Trigon Tries Again
by Splinter1
Summary: Edward is captured by Trigon and Sons during a prison riot and has to fight his way home, and prevent Trigon from coming back as well. Arella is injured in the destruction of Azarath and needs a new home. Warning: Some course language involved!  Trigon's sons make an appearance.  *This is a dark story for Edward and Raven.*
1. Azarath destroyed

Trigon Tries Again  
><em>JanuaryFebruary, 2012_

_A/N: Teen Titans characters are owned by DC Comics/Warner Brothers. Other possible trademarks are owned by their respective companies and used under "Fair Use" Doctrine. Other characters are mine._

**Prologue  
>[Mid-January, 2011]<strong>

_Edward Barnes writes..._

_With the Holiday Season over, the Titans have to face another challenge from a returning enemy. This time, though, there's serious backup for this enemy._

_This is also my greatest challenge as this enemy, thought dead, isn't dead. Just banished back to the realm in which he came. His first attempt failed, due to his arrogance and pride. He underestimated his daughter and her determined friends._

_This time around, though...his daughter is my girlfriend and, well, no one threatens Raven Roth without dealing with the Dragon's rage, especially not...TRIGON THE TERRIBLE._

_If you thought the first time through was rough...hang on to your seats as this time, it's going to be personal for the team._

_I may not win this one, but, regardless...I have to fight._

**Chapter 1  
>[Titan Tower]<strong>

The team had been enjoying a small respite from the general routine of taking down the bad guys, but, it wasn't making Edward happy. He had, for the past several months, been getting more disturbing things through the telepathic link he shared with Raven, his girlfriend.

The glimpses he'd see showed Trigon, Raven's so-called father, in a rage, trying to get back to Earth to take over. He'd enjoyed a temporary victory years before Edward joined the team, but, from what Edward was told, the guy thought he was invulnerable to damage, yet, Slade, of all people, showed Raven that Trigon could be hurt. That allowed Raven to tap into her own powers and sent Trigon packing.

But, now, with things that had happened to Raven recently, Edward feared that the mental barriers she'd had developed were faltering a little bit. Malchior's attack drained Raven badly and while she claimed that everything was all right, what was leaking through the link at night was not fine.

So, Edward headed off towards Raven's room to see what she'd be willing to divulge.

He arrived at her door and politely knocked; knowing that if he didn't, Raven might not appreciate it. She had given him her permissions, months ago, but, he still wanted to respect his girl.

She opened the door a moment later and, well, she looked terrible.

"Hi, Rae," Edward said, "Mind if I come in?"

"For you, not at all," she said sarcastically.

Edward went in and sat down.

"Rae," he said, "I'm getting worried. For one, you look as if you didn't sleep well, and given the nightmares I know you've been having, I fear something bad might happen."

"You've been seeing my dreams again?" she asked.

"Bits and pieces, yeah," he said, "I try to tune those out, but, what I'm seeing could be troublesome for the whole team."

"What are you seeing, hon?" Raven asked.

"Well, some big guy, red, white hair and deer horns," Edward said, "Also, I'm seeing three young men, in their early 20s, with glowing red eyes. Four eyes actually."

Raven paled a bit, "The first one is my father…The others, I don't know right off hand."

"Isn't your father dead?" Edward asked, puzzled.

"I don't know," she said, "I thought he was killed when I got rid of him, but, he might have been banished instead. Those three guys might be other children of Trigon."

"How can we find out?" Edward asked.

"Azarath, dear," she said, "We need to go to where I grew up."

She got out several ingredients and mixed a white powder. When she was done, she spread the stuff on the floor and said, "Be careful, dear. The powder can't be disturbed at all."

"No problem," Edward said.

Raven finished several minutes later and floated above the powder and took Edward's hand.

She chanted in what sounded like ancient Sanskrit to Edward, but, when she said "Azarath, Azarath, AZARATH!" Edward felt like he was being dragged up and out of the Tower.

**[Azarath]**

Edward and Raven came to a sudden stop and looked around. The landscape looked like a nuclear blast had gone off.

Edward felt the sudden waves of grief and anger coming off Raven.

"No!" she screamed and started sobbing, collapsing into a surprised Edward's arms. He held her as she cried heavily. His heart was breaking as well as the empath's emotions were unleashed.

"Rae," Edward said, "We have to see if there are any survivors. Let's see if we can find your mom first."

Raven nodded sadly. Edward took a second to give her a comforting kiss to the forehead and, after altering to his "angel" form, picked Raven up and took to the air.

"I can fly," Raven said a few moments later. She floated off Edward's arms and headed away.

Edward went to his normal mini-dragon and asked, [Where to?]

[Look for a monastery type building,] she replied.

Edward reached out with his mind to search for any life vibrations that would be similar to Raven and found one a distance off.

[I have something,] Edward said and turned toward where he sensed the vibrations coming.

He flew past Raven in the process and headed toward a collapsed building and landed. Raven was not far behind him.

"It's weak, dear, but, the vibration is almost an echo of yours," Edward said, "You might want to stand back as well."

Edward started to dig his way through the mess and a moment later, other sections were covered in Raven's powers and thrown aside.

With them working together, they finally hit a "void" in the rubble and Edward was stunned to see a battered gray woman there who looked like she could be Raven's older sister.

"Mom," Raven whimpered.

"What's her name, dear?" Edward said gently.

"Arella," Raven said, "Will she be OK?"

"I don't know, love," Edward said, lifting more rubble. He wanted to tell Raven to take a short walk, as Arella was badly injured.

Finally, Arella was freed, but, as Edward examined her he discovered a very weak pulse, scraped fingers and several broken bones. He was surprised that the shock alone didn't kill her.

Arella moaned, though.

"Don't try to move, Mom," Raven said, fighting back tears, "I'm here."

Edward had already returned to human form as Arella's eyes opened.

"Daughter?" she said.

"Yeah, it's me, Mom," Raven said, "We're going to get you out of here."

"I'm dying, Raven," she said, "Nothing to do now."

"Arella," Edward said kindly, "We have to try. You're not badly injured. We'll get you to a place of healing?"

"Who are you?" she said, trying to focus on Edward.

"I'm a friend," Edward said, "Save your strength. Raven and I will get you out of here."

Arella's eyes started to close. "Come on, stay awake," Edward said, "We need you here."

[Get some large branches, honey,] Edward said, [We need to make some splints. Her injuries are too bad to heal with my abilities … or yours.]

[All right,] Raven said.

She returned a few minutes later with two large branches and handed them to Edward. He carefully put the branches next to Arella's legs and said, "We'll have you splinted up in a few moments.

"Rae, you'll need to sacrifice a cloak, I'm afraid. I'll try to keep your mom comfortable, though."

"I understand," Raven said.

"Arella, look at me, dear," Edward said, "I'm going to give you something for the pain, but, it won't last long." It wasn't quite a lie as Edward placed his right hand carefully under Arella's neck and bracing himself, started to intercept the pain signals.

Raven let out a strangled groan as well.

"Rae!" Edward said, "Focus past the pain, I can't block all of it from reaching you, sweetie."

Raven nodded, "Thanks." She carefully splinted the broken legs, using her powers to tear her cloak into strips.

Ten long minutes later, Arella was splinted and ready for a teleport to the Tower, but, first, Edward needed to know something.

"Arella," Edward said gently, "Forgive me for this, but, I need to know if there are any other survivors here."

"I don't think so," she said, "I haven't heard anything since he came."

Both Edward and Raven sighed hearing that.

"Let's go, honey," Raven said, "Nothing we can do here."

"I'll carry Arella, babe," Edward said, and carefully picked Arella up, maintaining his intercept of the pain she was in.

Raven placed her hands on Edward and her mother and reversed the chant she used to get them to Azarath…

* * *

><p><em>OK, I changed my mind about posting a new story quickly, but, this one's burning a hole.<em>

_Will Arella survive? Can she provide clues to what happened to Azarath? What role will the sons of Trigon play?_

_That is coming up in the next few chapters._

_Also, what role will Edward play in this? Is he part of a new prophecy? Who knows._

_However, folks...See that little link below marked "Review this Chapter". I hate to beg, but, I'm finding it harder to overcome any writer's block without something to encourage me, even a little (Yes, I do enjoy the author alerts/story alerts as well..LOL!)  
><em>


	2. Arella wakes up and reveals 2d prophecy!

**Chapter 2  
>[Tower]<strong>

Raven deposited everyone in the infirmary and Edward laid Arella on the bed and set it for Raven's baseline, as he had no other baseline to use.

"Edward to Cyborg," he said after pulling out his communicator, "Please report to the infirmary, we have a new patient."

"We do?" Cyborg said.

"Get in here, metalhead!" Raven snarled, "The patient's my mother!"

That bit of news got the entire team in the infirmary in a hurry, but the scowl from both Edward and Raven got the others to back down just as fast.

"What happened?" Cyborg asked.

"Raven's home is gone," Edward replied, "Place looked like a nuclear weapon went off or something."

"Well, dawg," Cyborg said a few moments later, "Raven's mother will have a rough go of it for a little while, but, she'll pull through."

Cyborg motioned them to follow him and soon as they were out of Arella's hearing, he said, "She's going to have to stay here for a while. Both legs are badly broken, she's got four cracked ribs, and a serious concussion. Also, there are signs of malnutrition as well. I'll start her on some IVs to get her fluids up and for pain relief. We'll get her casted as well."

"Can we use our healing powers on her?" Raven asked.

"I wouldn't recommend it, hon," Edward said, "Even I'm not sure what will happen. Besides, it will give you a chance to get to know her better and we have to know what happened in Azarath."

Raven snorted, "Fine."

"Sweetheart," Edward said, pulling Raven close, "As soon as it's feasible, we'll do what we can. Please, don't let this worry you too much. She'll be fine here."

"I just wish I knew what happened!" Raven said.

There was a moan from the bed and Arella slowly opened her eyes.

"Where am I?" she said. Edward and Raven went over to her and Edward nodded to Raven."

"Mother," Raven said, "You're where I live now. Azarath's gone."

Arella focused on her daughter and tried to raise an arm, only to have it gently restrained.

"Don't push yourself, Arella," Edward said, "You've been hurt pretty bad."

"Will I die?" Arella said.

Edward and Raven smiled. "You'll be good as new in a few months," Edward said.

"There won't be a few months," Arella said, "Rae-Rae…your father destroyed Azarath. He said it was for revenge." A tear flowed down Arella's cheek as Raven wiped it away.

Edward stroked Arella's good hand and said, "He's coming back, isn't he?"

Arella looked at Edward and nodded, "He is. Raven wasn't the only portal. Trigon has three other children and they are loose on this world. He told us that when the time is right, he will return and finish what he started."

"What about me, mother?" Raven asked.

"Trigon has promised to kill you first, dear daughter," Arella said.

Edward's eyes flashed yellow hearing that, "I'm not letting that happen!"

Arella looked at Edward, "You won't be able to stop Trigon. Mortals can't stop him. Raven's friends got lucky last time."

"For one," Edward said after a moment to calm down, "I'm immortal. That levels that part of the field. I know Trigon can be hurt as well. He even tries to hurt Raven…I'll tear him apart."

"How? You're human!" Arella said.

Edward opened the window and said, "Watch and learn." He wasn't overly annoyed, but, conversely Arella needed to know what Trigon was going to be up against.

"Now even Raven's seen me at my full size," he explained, "Being a Dragon has its advantages."

He pushed out of the window and a moment later, there was a giant dragon looking in the window.

Everyone's jaws dropped when they realized Edward was at least 150 feet long, head to tail and almost that wide with his wings spread out.

[Dear?] Raven said.

[It's me, my love,] Edward said gently, [This is my true size. You can see why I don't use it much, especially around or in a city. Only on the largest threats would you and my adopted family see this form.]

[You're easily double Malchior's size!] Raven realized, awe creeping into her voice.

[No wonder he beat me,] Anger groused, [But, you now have my respect.]

[Thank you,] Edward said, [Coming from you, Anger, that says a lot and I know it's an earned respect…you may continue to expect that respect returned. That goes for all of Rae's emotions as well. You girls always had my respect, though.]

[Even me,] Timid asked.

[Especially you, little one. You keep Raven from jumping into situations that she can't handle on her own,] Edward said as he switched to bird form and entered the window.

Arella was staring at what she was seeing.

"How long have you been able to talk to my daughter telepathically?" Arella asked.

"For about six months," Raven said.

"I can see you're more than friends," Arella said with a smile, "I'm happy to see my little girl like this.

"Rae-Rae, I'm so sorry for all the wrongs I had to do to you. I thought that you should have been killed at birth…for that, I am deeply ashamed. You're overcome the first part of the prophecy, but, there's another part that is coming to pass."

"What is that, mother?" Raven asked.

"It said that if the gem was able to prevent the end of all things mortal, when she found true love, it would be tested by the return of what would destroy all living things, starting with the gem herself," Arella said and struggled to sit up.

This time, Cyborg (who was watching this with a rapidly pale color under his natural dark pigment) helped Arella to do that.

"You mean Edward and Raven triggered another aspect to the prophecy?" he asked.

"Yes," Arella said, "It said that when the gem fell for the immortal one, Trigon would return to corrupt the immortal one to ensure his victory."

Edward looked stunned, then his eyes went right past yellow into the glowing red stage.

"NEVER!" he snarled, "No one will corrupt me. It hasn't happened in over 3,000 years and I'm not going to betray those I love…those I call family!"

[Edward, honey. Please, calm yourself. Anger is pointless,] Raven pleaded, actually worried as the mental aura Edward projected went from a gentle pulsating pink in her mind to blistering red hot anger.

All she heard for a long 30 seconds was Edward's snarling in rage via the link and out loud as well.

Raven walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering calming phrases into his ear and via the link.

[It's going to be all right, love,] she cooed into his mind. The anger levels were slowly going down.

But, after several long minutes, the snarling eased up. Edward's eyes slowly faded to their normal brown as his presence in Raven's mind also faded away until it was just a few shades above it's normal.

Edward had calmed down and returned the hug. But, he was in full protection mode and woe to anyone who crossed him.

* * *

><p><em>I know...short installment. But, there's a long way to go here and this will give readers another level to Edward's feelings towards Raven. And, yes, he's highly ticked right now. There's a major threat to Raven, as well as the world<em>.

_The next couple of chapters may NOT focus on the Titan POV, so, keep that in mind as the Sons of Trigon need to make an appearance._


	3. Trigon and sons plot revenge on Raven

**Chapter 3  
>[Azarath – A week before.]<strong>

The guardians of Trigon were worried. Over the last several months, their prisoner had become more and more agitated. He burned at the fact that his own daughter had defeated him on Earth when she was supposed to not only be reduced to a child, but, a weak and powerless one at that. He had also made it impossible for her to escape her fate.

First, she was his portal into the plane where Earth resided and as soon as she did that, all of the people on the planet, in fact all living things were instantly petrified where they would remain forever…or until Trigon had need of their very souls.

Then, he cast his own daughter to Hell itself. To that end, he brought back Slade with a promise: Serve Trigon, lead his army and force Raven to be the portal. In return, Slade would be given a flesh and blood body.

But, Trigon was over confident and overestimated Raven's love for the Teen Titans. She granted them a fraction of her power. That saved the four remaining Titans from being turned to stone and sharing Terra's fate forever.

Trigon, of course, turned on his servant and instead of giving Slade the body he longed for, stripped the undead creature of his role and powers. That forced Slade into a temporary alliance with the Titans, especially his former apprentice Robin. Slade knew where Raven was and convinced Robin to descend into the Pit itself to rescue Raven.

Oh, that didn't change a thing between Robin and Slade. That, they both agreed on readily. But, for rescuing Raven and for Slade getting a real body back, differences were set aside.

Slade and Robin split up at one point. Robin recovered Raven, but, was stunned beyond belief to see her as a frightened seven year old girl in white. It took some doing, and a long chase, but, Robin convinced Raven to trust him. On the way back, Robin told Raven her own story.

Slade managed to defeat the guardian and regained his body, but, not before being forced to explain what had happened after Terra killed him. It was a major admission on the master criminal's mind to have to tell Robin why he was a charred skeleton under the mask.

Robin and the pint sized Raven returned to the destroyed surface and the fight was on between the exhausted Titans…They had been forced to fight their dark halves to keep Trigon distracted. For all the good it did. Evil Starfire told Trigon the plan and they were shocked to discover that Trigon was aware of the rescue.

Well, the good Titans switched to different targets and easily defeated the evil twins, proving that Cyborg could kick Beast Boy's butt.

Trigon proved too powerful, though. He was defeating the Titans when Slade also returned and setting aside long standing issues, sided with the Titans. First, he was able to sever one of Trigon's antlers, then, another one was removed, enraging Trigon.

Raven, though, realized that her father was not impervious to injury and seeing her friends and even Slade about to be killed, struck back. She was able to tap into her own powers and return to her adult form. Trigon decided he had taken enough and moved to kill Raven.

Raven reclaimed the shards of power from her friends and blasted Trigon with her powers, now white as she was cleansed of the evil. Finally, her soul self, also pure white, banished Trigon back to Azarath. The massive release of power on Raven's part restored the planet to the moment people were petrified. If Terra had been on the surface, she would probably have been freed as well. Raven also freed Edward from a stony prison…but, she didn't know that and Edward, like everyone else, would never remember that.

But, that was then. It's been several years since that happened and Trigon had come to realize that there was a second half of the prophecy regarding Raven and it needed her to fall in love.

He knew that once she had fallen in love, it would be her other weakness. She'd be distracted by her boyfriend. But, the prophecy required that Raven fall for a dragon. Trigon had come close to escaping once when she fell for Malchior. But, it wasn't a true love. Malchior turned on her the moment he was released. So, the bonds holding Trigon were still tight.

When Edward came into her life, though…that changed the game. Both were deeply in love with each other and shared a deep bond.

Trigon had managed a few things, though, despite being locked up and that was to give orders to his sons. One was to sneak into Raven's room and look for a certain book. Once that book was in their hands, they were to release Malchior from his prison. They waited until the Titans were out on a mission and thus distracted.

Jared said to his brothers, "Father wants to release this creature from the book. It will be easy to prey upon his desires to act against our traitorous half-breed sister. And, once we transport this thing into her mind, it will be easy pickings. She'll be a mindless vegetable when we are done."

Jesse said, "And, there's nothing that Barnes can do to save dear sweet Raven. He'll be too afraid to hurt her."

So, the three of them released Malchior and told him what was needed.

"You don't have to ask me twice," Malchior said, "She was so easy to trick, it will be a pleasure to rape her mind. She deserves every ounce of pain I can give her."

So, the three Sons of Trigon worked their dark magic and transported Malchior into Raven's very mind.

What they didn't count on though was Edward charging to Raven's rescue right away and after the long fight in Raven's mind, Malchior was ejected and ended up back where he started.

Unbeknownst to Edward and the other Titans, they were watching the final fight and saw how angry Edward could truly be.

"Our father can use this," Jesse said, "This Barnes is a prideful creature. We can use his devotion against him, should the need arise."

As they were talking, Terra had opened up the earth and then buried Malchior alive.

"DAMN!" Jared hissed, "They just eliminated our of our minions. Father will not be happy. We go now."

They teleported away in a flash of red fire to contemplate their next move.

That came a few weeks later, where the Brotherhood of Evil was in suspended animation.

Jesse licked his lips as they moved Mallah to the machine and reversed the effects.

Mallah agreed to attack the children to lure Raven away from the Titans. They didn't know, though, that Melvin was missing Raven and bugged the monks into letting them talk to Raven, thus getting Raven and Edward where they could strike.

That played into their hands, but, again, their plans were derailed by Edward's interference.

In fact, the kids helped Raven to heal her mind faster. Certainly not something that Trigon would have wanted.

Finally, though, Trigon was able to escape from his cell. After killing the guards, he started to tear through the rest of the prison. Anyone who got in his was brutally massacred. Their souls feeding his bloodlust.

He burst through the roof of the building and started to systemically destroy every building in Azarath, killing all who stood. The Azarathians had no chance and within hours, there was only one left: Arella.

Trigon picked her up in his hand and growled, "You I will allow to live. You will tell our daughter that her days are numbered for when I return to Earth and claim my prize…she will be the first to die for I will not allow her to defeat me again."

"Raven will defeat you, monster," Arella said, spitting in Trigon's face.

"For your insolence, you will suffer!" Trigon roared. He set Arella down and gave her a moment to run into the temple…which he promptly destroyed.

Trigon moved on, then. His bloodlust was by no means satisfied, but, with everyone dead, Trigon waited.

Arella spent the next week waiting for rescue and knowing that the chances were slim and none. She tried to escape, but, her broken legs made that impossible. She had resigned herself to die.

As she lay there, she thought of her daughter and prayed that she'd find peace. She prayed that Trigon could be stopped again.

She was drifting in and out when she heard the rubble being moved away and she was certain that Trigon had decided to finish the job. She was surprised to see Raven and Edward there. She was already too weak to move as Edward's dragon form continued to move pieces of building away.

But, she realized that they were working together to remove everything, and the compassion shown by Edward. Arella was immensely grateful for the pain relief as well as she was sound asleep when they arrived at the tower.

There was another problem…the sons of Trigon also knew that Arella was at the tower and they were determined to stop her from warning the others that Trigon was coming back. This time to exact his revenge first, take over the world second.

"My sons," Trigon ordered, "It is time for my daughter to know what it means to defy the will of Trigon. Kill Arella first, then, her boyfriend. Anyone else that gets in the way, kill them slowly. Their souls will be all the sweeter."

"It will be done, Father," Jacob said, his four eyes glowing with an evil intent.

* * *

><p><em>Looks like Trigon has something major planned for the world...and for Rae. Will the team be able to figure things out before Trigon makes his move? And what will Trigon's boys be planning. They certainly have had mixed success (and, yes, this does "solve" the mystery how<em> _Malchior was release__d to torment our favorite empath)._

_Stay tuned...and thanks for the major increase in the stats. There's been major upswings in the states for this story as well as others, especially The Dragon and the Titans. Don't expect this to be a cakewalk as Trigon could be Edward's biggest challenge._

_See you guys soon :)  
><em>


	4. Captured!

**Chapter 4  
>[Remains of Azarath]<strong>

Trigon had spent the next week plotting to take over, basically where he left off, though. The only major change was that he couldn't use Raven as a portal. Not as she was now. The thought of his daughter being in love sickened Trigon. He had to do something drastic. He had to make Raven think Edward had died. Like Arella, he wasn't aware of Edward's abilities. If he managed to kill Edward or to make her believe he was dead, she might be vulnerable to his will again.

"My sons," Trigon said, "What do you know of this creature Raven is with?"

"He and our sister are bonded," Jesse said, "That is evident by the way he acts around her. They share thoughts and feelings constantly."

"This makes them dangerous in battle," Jacob continued, "They share plans and schemes to defeat their foes. It makes Barnes exceptionally dangerous as he moves to protect our dear sister from danger she cannot handle. That we did not count on."

Trigon backhanded Jacob and said, "That was for failing me that time. The only reason I do not terminate your existence is we can use this against them."

"How is that, father?" Jared asked.

"Break that bond and make it look like this creature is dead," Trigon said, rolling his upper pair of eyes.

"In that fight with Malchior," Jesse said, "He wasn't even injured, far as we could tell. There wasn't even a hint of his own blood.

"And, he defeated that overgrown ape as well. Even took the time to…cough…show mercy."

"Mercy is for the weak," Trigon said, "Remember that, my sons."

Trigon was already scheming on how to defeat Edward and the other Titans. He knew that if he got rid of Edward, the other Titans would be easy to kill. They got lucky the first time. Trigon wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Barnes also has handed other threats, including your other assistant," Jacob said.

"That traitor, Slade you mean?" Trigon snarled, reaching up where his horns were still growing back.

"Yes, that one," Jacob said, "Barnes and Slade's former apprentice defeated him in battle. He's in an Earth prison now."

"Make sure he's killed," Trigon ordered, "Send his soul to me as I have a special torture that awaits him. In fact, when you kill Barnes, he's also got a special place. Then, kill Raven after Arella. I want her to lose her sanity before she dies."

"It will be done, Father!" the three said as one.

**[Titans Tower – a week later]**

Arella had recovered to the point that Cyborg and Edward felt she could move around as long as she was in a wheelchair.

Edward said, "You're looking better every day, Arella. That's good considering what had happened."

Arella squeezed Edward's hand and said, "Thank you for saying that. But, I know you're being polite. I'm still in some pain at times."

"I know," Edward said, "My empathic abilities are more fine-tuned then most people know or understand. I am picking faint echoes of the residual pain.

Raven said, "Mother, don't burden Edward with this stuff, I'm sure he had other things to worry about."

"It's all right, dear," Edward said, "Your mom's not a burden."

Raven shook her head as if to clear it and sagged for some reason. Edward was there in a heartbeat and asked, "You OK?"

Raven said, "Felt dizzy for a moment. I'm fine, though."

"Oh," Edward said. He wasn't buying it. With Arella's warnings, Edward wasn't going to take any chances.

Edward's communicator went off a second later and he answered it, "Edward here."

Robin said, "Come to the commons area, please. Bring Raven with you."

"On our way," Edward replied and closed the communicator.

Raven and Edward headed to the main area and when they arrived, they saw the prison where Slade was being housed. He had been sentenced to life in prison without parole for his crimes and as the team watched, there appeared to be a riot in progress.

"Edward," Batman said in the lower corner, "The locals are having a hard time controlling what you're seeing and need a hand. The members of the League are tied up with other matters right now. Can you assist?"

"Of course, Batman," Edward replied, "I'm happy to assist the Justice League as well as my team mates. I'm on my way."

Robin said, "Be careful, Edward. Stay in contact as much as you can."

"Understood, my friend," he said. He gave Raven a short hug, [Take care, love. I shouldn't be long.]

She kissed him on the cheek and Edward morphed to his small dragon form to teleport.

**[Arkham Prison]  
>[An: I know, I know…It's supposed to be an asylum…LOL!]**

Edward teleported and looked for a command centerwhich he located pretty quickly and landed.

The guards, being skittish, almost opened fire.

"Easy guys," Edward called out, "The Justice League asked me to give you guys a hand. They send their regrets as they are tied up with other business. Name's Barnes,"

Edward morphed back to human and the incident commander came over.

"Thanks for coming over on short notice, Mr. Barnes," he said, "Name's Captain Covington."

"Please, call me Edward," he said, "I don't normally stand on formalities. What do we have?"

"We're not sure what happened. According to one of the guards that managed to get out, the men were all eating their dinner when one got into Prisoner Wilson's face and a fight ensued."

"Slade Wilson?" Edward asked.

"The same," Covington replied, "Before the guards could react, the entire place was in full riot. Wilson is reported to be hurt bad, but, he's a hostage as well as several guards."

Edward nodded, "How many prisoners are in rebellion and how many guards are in harm's way?"

"The prison holds 3,000 of the most hardened criminals in the country. This is an ultra-max facility. There are, on average, 100 guards here," was the reply, "Right now, about 75 guards are being held captive. 25 were able to escape when it was clear that the odds were against them."

"Injuries?" Edward inquired.

"Slade's one that we're sure of," a sergeant replied, "We're running on the assumption that there are others as well."

"Demands?" Edward asked next.

"We haven't been able to establish communications yet," the man responded.

"Damn!" Edward said, "Anything weird happen earlier? Like any visitors?"

"As an ultra-max facility, visitors are not permitted unless they are with the media, a prisoner's lawyer or a specially authorized visitor," the captain said.

"Understandable," Edward said, "Anyway for me to get in there from the air?"

They spend the next several minutes looking at the schematics for the prison and Edward was impressed. Under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult to get in, even for Edward if he didn't teleport. This time, though, he was going to teleport in.

[Raven?] he called through the link.

[I'm here, hon,] she replied, [What's going on?]

[It's nasty. The prisoners are in a full riot. But, don't tell Terra this, yet…Slade's been hurt and they think pretty bad. No one's been able to get in to ascertain his condition or others. I'm going in shortly. Bring the rest of the team, just in case,] he requested.

[Will do,] she said, [Be careful. Robin's telling me that it's extremely rare for all the prisoners to riot at once.]

[I know, dear,] he said, [I'm going in.]

Edward said aloud, "The other Titans will be here shortly. Raven's going to teleport them over. The leader is Robin, so, he'll need this same briefing, please. Unless there's no choice, try to keep the blonde girl, Terra, from finding out about Slade."

"Terra?" the captain said, "The one that recently got a pardon from President Luthor?"

"The same," Edward said, "The President owed me a favor, so, I called in the debt. Terra had proven to me that she was trustworthy. Let's talk about this later, though."

Edward could see prisoners walking along the walkways where the guards usually patrolled.

Something caught his eagle eye, though, and he said, "Look up that way." He pointed and the captain said, "Since when do prisoners have glowing red eyes?"

"They don't," Edward said, "This is supernatural now. Bring your men back to a fallback position."

[Raven, we've got another problem. I'm seeing a young man with glowing red eyes, similar to when you are angry,] Edward relayed.

[Oh no!] she said a few moments later, [Mother says that one of Trigon's sons. It could be Jacob as he can trigger anger in people.]

[Can he force people to be enraged enough to become violent?] he asked.

[Easily,] was the sad reply, [The rest of the team are ready to go.]

[Bring them,] Edward requested, [Time for this to come to an end.]

With that, Edward morphed to his bird form and took to the air. He headed for the prison walls and teleported in.

As soon as he was in the prison itself, he was battered by waves of intense anger. He shook his head and raised several mental shields to block the worst of the mental assault.

He landed and looked around. All he saw were rioting prisoners everywhere. The cells had all been opened and everything was piled up in the courtyard. There were several bodies lying about as well.

Edward flew down to one of the bodies and after returning to his human form, felt for a pulse. There was none, sadly. He noted that it was a guard, with a shank in his chest.

[Raven, tell folks that there are fatalities. At least one guard was stabbed to death. Nametag says 'Stephens' on it. He looks like he is about 35,] Edward said.

He felt a sting to his side and looked up to see an enraged prisoner with a small shank in his hand. He grinned and said, "First blood stranger is mine."

Edward said, "That may be the case, but, you think that little stick is really going to bother me. It's already healed!"

Edward heard others approaching and grabbed his first attacker and picking him up, threw him into at least 10 other prisoners. They went down for a moment, but, picked themselves up and started to charge Edward. He jumped into the air and sidekicked the closest ones. Those guys crumpled, out of action with bruised jaws for their troubles.

"Lucky shot," one snarled, "But, you can't hope to defeat all of us. You're just a man!"

"Am I?" Edward said, morphing to a T-rex and roaring. The prisoners didn't flinch and charged Edward. That prompted a change to mini-dragon…and access to the breath weapons as well.

Edward's spinal ridges lit up white and as the prisoners got closer, not paying attention to the glow, Edward opened fire with a low dose. With the waves of anger battering him, though, it was harder for him to simply not fry them all.

About 50 crumpled, their nervous systems overloaded.

Others tried to give Edward the bum's rush, without much luck as he morphed to another bird and took to the air. That caused one of his attackers to hit him with a stone, stunning him and down he went.

[Edward!] Raven called out, [You all right?]

Edward was, for once, out cold, though.

"Do not harm him further," a voice commanded, "You've done well. My father will reward you handsomely for this."

[Edward! Answer me!] Raven called, panic starting to set in.

Jacob walked over and picked Edward up and bound him tight with a special rope.

"Let's see you get out of this," Jacob said coldly.

**[Later]**

Edward slowly regained consciousness and looked around.

_Ouch! What happened?_ He thought. It took him a moment to clear his head and he realized he was still in his bird form.

He also came to realize that he was tied up and attempted to morph to his human form. While that was successful, he was still bound tight.

"OK," he said, "This is new."

"Ah," a cold voice said, "I see our guest is awake. Welcome to your worst nightmare, monster."

Edward raised his head and saw Trigon's sons.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked.

"Fool! That riot was a ruse to get you here and away from our sister," the oldest one snarled.

[Raven?] Edward called out only to get an instant headache. The link had been forcibly broken!

Edward's eyes started glowing an intense red.

"You best calm down, sonny," the oldest one said, "We know about your little telepathic link with her. Too bad it's not able to work here."

"What have you done?" Edward snarled.

"Oh, our sweet sister thinks you're dead by now. Soon as we brought you here, the link snapped and she collapsed," Jacob said.

"You best pray that I don't get out of here, then," Edward said darkly, eyes still aglow.

Jacob grabbed Edward by the throat and tried squeezing. He discovered that Edward's neck was like steel. His defensive mode had kicked in as that was his for-real kill zone.

Jacob resorted to slapping Edward and yowled in pain.

"YOU BASTARD!" Jacob snarled.

"Don't try that again," Edward said, "I'm going to hurt you bad as it is. You hurt Raven or the rest of the team…I'll tear you limb from limb and watch as whatever passes for blood drains out."

"I don't think so," Jared said sweetly, "You can't get out of those bounds, even if you wanted to. And, where would you go? You're where you can't teleport away. There's no escape. This is a gift from our father for enabling him to return to kill Raven."

Edward saw red then and tried to break the bindings, only to be hit with a massive electrical current! In his current form, he couldn't absorb it and roared in pain.

"We might not be able to kill you," Jesse said, "but, you cannot get out of those ropes. Don't worry…you'll get to see our sister again…when you're both dead. You seem to be vulnerable to electricity in your human form."

Edward snarled, "That's irrelevant." He tried to transform to mini-dragon, only to be interrupted by the same current. He groaned in agony as well.

"You can't transform anymore," Jacob said, "Not unless you want more delicious pain."

"You called me a monster" Edward said, "But, I don't take pleasure on another living being's pain. That makes you the monster!"

"Bah!" Jacob said, "Enough talk. It's time to exact our father's revenge. Let's go, brothers. Our friend can't go anywhere anyway."

They left and Edward stewed, eyes intensely glowing red in fury and pain. He was healing, but, far slower than usual.

He spent the next several hours thinking how he would escape from his captors…

* * *

><p><em>Oh Azar! How will Edward get out of this mess? How is Raven coping? Edward's not as invulnerable as he thinks, either. Brute force isn't working, so, he's going to have to use his brains. Will their be time for Edward to escape and figure out how to get home before Trigon makes good his threat?<em>

_Stay tuned!  
><em>


	5. The team mourns a loss

**Chapter 5  
>[Outside the prison]<strong>

While the fighting was going on inside the prison, Raven teleported the rest of the team to the site and was telepathically linked to Edward up until the time he morphed to a bird and was knocked out.

Raven was relaying what she was seeing when she caught a flash of the stone hit Edward right in the skull. She felt a flash of pain for a second and her gray skin actually paled

[Edward?] Raven called, [You OK?]

She was instantly hit with a blinding pain as the link snapped just then.

She screamed, "EDWARD!" and collapsed. Robin and Beast Boy eased the stricken empath to the ground and watched as she curled up.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked. Raven looked up and said, "Edward's gone."

"What do you mean, he's gone?" Robin asked gently, "He's immortal."

Raven only sobbed and the team realized that Edward could actually be dead. Her powers were already lashing out, minor things exploding under the assault.

"Get everything out of here," Cyborg said to the captain sadly, "And everyone as well. Raven's lost her boyfriend and she could be very dangerous without meaning to be."

The captain issued the orders to evacuate and to take everything that wasn't nailed down.

Beast Boy merely hugged Raven as she cried, rocking her back and forth. Terra had tears in her eyes that slowly turned to rage. Her eyes started glowing, hair flying wildly as her body glowed bright yellow.

"Terra!" Robin called out, "Stop! Tearing the place apart won't bring Edward back!"

Starfire was fighting back her own tears as she went to Terra and grabbed her into a gentle hug.

"Friend Terra, please calm the emotions," she said gently, "Friend Edward wouldn't want you doing what you're thinking of doing."

Terra broke down in the grip of the alien girl as she regained control over her powers. Starfire wept quietly as well.

In fact, the whole team was in tears, thinking that Edward had been killed in battle.

Robin pulled out his communicator and punching in a different channel said, "Robin to Batman."

A moment later, Batman appeared and saw the grief on his ward's face, "What's wrong?"

"Edward's gone, Batman. He went in to help stop the riot and Raven felt the link between them snap," Robin said.

Batman's face softened and he pulled his cowl down.

"I'm sorry," Bruce said, "Is there anything I can do?"

"My team's shattered," Robin said, "Raven's out of action. Terra almost tore the prison down with an earthquake. Starfire's comforting Terra. Beast Boy is comforting Raven and Cyborg looks like he's turned off his emotions totally. We're going to wait and see if they bring Edward's body out."

"Understood, Robin," Bruce said, "The League will handle the arrangements and expenses. Edward was a member of the League, albeit honorary, due to his working with you."

Robin nodded, "That's fine."

"Dick," Bruce said softly, "You OK?"

"No, I'm not!" Robin hissed, "I'm barely holding it together as it is for the team."

"Have they brought out anyone, yet?" Bruce asked.

"No, but, the rioting seems to have settled down on its own," Robin said, "We're going to go in and see if we can find Edward one way or another."

"Be careful, Dick," Bruce said and signed off.

"Titans, we have to be sure," Robin said, "Edward might be recoverable."

"He's gone," Raven wept, "The link could only be severed by death this way. It hurts so much!"

Raven simply could not be consoled, but, she was letting Beast Boy maintain his hold on her. Terra went over to the couple and embraced them both. Starfire joined the embrace.

"Cyborg," Robin said, "You're with me, then. We have to know, one way or another."

"We'll give you cover," the incident commander offered.

"Thanks," Robin said, "Let's go."

They approached the gates of the prison and were surprised to see that the riot was calmed on its own.

"What in the world?" Robin said, seeing prisoners walking aimlessly and several prisoners on the ground, wounded or worse. Same with several guards as well.

"Get these prisoners back to their cells," the incident commander ordered. He got on his walkie-talkie and ordered the rest of his men in to contain the other prisoners.

Unlike the fight with Edward, the prisoners were docile enough to go back to their cells.

However, there were about 50 prisoners that looked like they'd fought Edward and lost. But, there was no sign of Edward anywhere.

One of the prisoners stirred and was grabbed by Robin, "Where's Edward Barnes?"

"I don't know," the prisoner said, "How did I end up here? Last thing I remember was eating dinner."

Robin's eyes turned to ice and he snarled, "You don't remember how the hell you got out here? You don't remember a riot and a dragon coming in to break it up?"

"I'm sorry, dude," the prisoner said, "All I know is I have a bad headache."

"Rob," Cyborg said, "if he was hit by Edward's lightning, his short term memory might be scrambled at best."

Robin sighed, "That's true, Cyborg. Let's keep looking." He released the prisoner who was taken into custody.

"Judging by the way these guys fell, Edward was right about here," Robin said, "Is there any way to determine if he was firing his lightning?"

Cyborg punched some commands into his scanners and said, "He was here all right, there's some remaining ozone and his lightning has…had a unique signature."

"Raven said he had morphed into a bird and tried to escape," Robin said, "Could he have been knocked out so fast he didn't morph back to human or even dragon?"

"Ask BB on that one, man," Cyborg said, "They were similar in that respect."

"Robin to Beast Boy," Robin said after pulling out his communicator.

"Beast Boy here," he said.

"Do you know if Edward might be knocked out so fast he didn't morph back?" Robin asked.

"It's possible," Beast Boy said sadly, "But, the times I've been knocked cold, I morph back automatically." He looked at Raven who was starting to calm down and she said, "He should have morphed back if he was knocked out."

Robin said, "Weird, then. Raven, we'll find him no matter what and bring him home."

Raven just nodded, the words choking in her throat.

"Thanks," Beast Boy said and signed off.

"You think he was captured, Rob?" Cyborg said.

"If he was, he would have escaped by now," Robin said, "He doesn't tolerate being captured."

Other prisoners were waking up and after questioning, they all showed short term memory loss.

After 45 minutes, Robin said, "We're no closer than we were before!"

"Easy, Rob," Cyborg said, "Let's talk to some other prisoners who were knocked into next week."

**[Two hours later]**

The effort was in vain as even prisoners who were not in the fighting with Edward didn't remember anything about the riot. It was like a switch was turned on in one area, but, turned off in another.

By then, Raven had recovered enough to be functional and insisted on helping.

But, even her skills couldn't dredge up any idea where Edward was. She didn't want to violate the prisoners' minds in the process and risk turning them into mental zombies in the process.

But, they did get some news that was bittersweet. It appeared that the target was probably Slade and an hour into the teams questioning, Robin was handed a note:

"Prisoner Wilson was found in the cafeteria with a knife in his skull and declared dead at 5:47 PM."

Robin felt a sense of relief knowing that his arch-enemy would not be getting out of prison except in a pine box now, though.

He pulled Terra aside and told her the news.

"Good…May he rot in Hell," she said coldly. Robin nodded and realized that she wasn't going to waste a tear for Slade when she was mourning the guy who helped free her.

"Guess his immortality was only when he worked for Trigon," Cyborg said, "Good riddance to bad rubbish. But, this isn't going to bring Edward back."

The team realized that the prison was a dead end, but, in the back of Raven's mind, Knowledge was realizing that while the link was broken, there was a chance, albeit slight, that the guy with glowing eyes might have answers or at least some clue where Edward might be. The other emotions were still panicking in different ways. Rage was wanting revenge, for example. Love was a sobbing heap, as was Happy and Timid. Brave wanted to kick some major ass. Put in other words, everything was starting to fall apart. Raven needed to meditate badly.

The team headed back to the Tower, though. Raven went to the roof to meditate in peace. For once, there was the unspoken agreement to let her have all the space she needed.

Even Starfire, her other meditation partner decided that the empath had to be alone to cope. Beast Boy went to the fridge and got out some soy milk and after drinking a glass threw the glass into the far wall.

It was his turn to let things out and Terra rushed over to the shapeshifter and held him tight. The pain was too great for Beast Boy to bear anymore as he cried into Terra's shoulder.

"I'm here, Garfield," she cooed softly. She was, finally, repaying the times when she was in tears and comforted by Beast Boy.

Raven had managed to start meditation and as she softly chanted her mantra, her mind flashed back to all the times she'd have Edward there meditating as well.

Little did she know that Edward was also meditating on his situation and that the bond they shared would come back into play.

* * *

><p><em>All righty, the team knows that Edward's gone, but, they're thinking that he's dead and gone. Robin has his doubts though (remember the JL Episode when they thought Superman was killed and only Batman thought otherwise...I'm playing off that plot a little bit).<em>

_Hopefully the "evil plot bunny" will let me reactivate the telepathic link, but, the way he's sharpening his claws tells me that we might be here a while longer. Maybe good reviews will make the furry little thing happy...Hehehe  
><em>


	6. Mindscape

**Chapter 6  
>[Edward's cell]<strong>

Edward realized that by now Raven and the team would know that something bad had happened to him and would either be looking for him or in mourning. He had to get out of there and soon or there'd be hell to pay from an angry Raven.

_What would Raven do?_ Edward thought. _Soon as she calmed down enough, she'd meditate and try to calm the other emotions._

He had tried to morph several times to larger forms and each time the current would force him to abort. He looked over the bonds and they looked like if they hadn't been imbued with some sort of energy, he could snap them even in human form. But, there was something bothering him, outside of the physical pain. He could deal with that, but, why was he allowed to morph from a bird to human without pain.

His captors didn't have any cameras in the room that Edward could see. But, that didn't mean that they weren't watching him somehow.

Edward sighed to himself. This would take some time to figure out. Brute force wasn't going to work, so, Edward would have to outwit Trigon's sons before too long.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," he started to repeat as he decided to meditate on the problem…

**[Limbo – Meditative State]**

Edward felt like he was floating away and as he looked, he saw that he was in Dragon form.

"OK, this must be a dream," he mused.

"It is, silly," a welcomed voice said, "Your physical shell is still trapped somewhere."

"Rae?" Edward said, looking around and seeing her astral form nearby. The bird nodded.

"Hi, there," she replied.

"What happened?" he asked.

"No idea, my love," she said, "We're wondering the same thing. I don't even know how we're able to talk. The link's gone. I can't feel you at all. It hurts so bad!" A tear fell down her face as a sob escaped.

Edward walked over and tried to morph. He was able to in this landscape and formed his human self and gently picked up Raven's avatar and held it close to his heart.

"We'll figure something out, dear," he said as she wept.

Edward didn't know how long he sat there on a stump holding his girl and swore to himself that when they were reunited in the flesh that he'd hold her until she tired of it before taking care of business, if possible.

A menacing laugh echoed through the landscape and it changed as Edward watched.

It turned gray…deathly gray.

"Even if you find your way back, you cannot stop me," a deep menacing voice threatened, "You will surrender your souls to me."

"Never, monster," Edward said, "I will find my way home and when that happens, my friends and I will stop you again."

The owner of the voice came forward. He had to be almost 15 feet tall, red skin and what looked like antlers regrowing.

"I invite you to try, Dragon," Trigon growled.

Edward let Raven go and said, "Everything will work out, Rae."

Edward looked up at Trigon's avatar and said, "You want a piece of me? I'm right here."

Trigon smirked and said, "I allowed my daughter to live as she served a purpose. I'm not going to be as kind to you."

Trigon moved to attack with a downward swipe that Edward barely dodged. He transformed to his Dragon form, the one he typically used for transporting the other team members and bared his teeth.

He didn't bother lighting up his spinal ridges as he let loose a blast of lightning. The bolts hit Trigon as he tried to move, but, the effect was minimal at best.

Edward charged Trigon and grappled with the demon for several long minutes. Neither could overpower the other, which surprised Edward. But, he couldn't dwell on the problem. He wasn't sure what would happen here should he be injured or worse.

Edward went to a snake form and wrapped around Trigon and applied pressure. Constricting tighter, Edward realized that Trigon had taken over the actual conditions of the "reality". That posed a problem, but, Edward wasn't overly concerned, yet.

Edward bit down on Trigon's arm and punctured the skin.

"ARGH!" Trigon roared and tried to force his way out.

_Now he knows how I feel!_ Edward mused to himself, setting his bite deeper and shaking his head, hard, wounding the monster more.

Trigon was realizing that the tide of the battle was turning. Edward not only had a grip on his arm, but, was like coiled steel that was constricting as well.

Trigon flexed, but, that only resulted in Edward tightening his grip even further.

Then, Trigon used his eye beams and that got Edward to loosen his grip as the effect was most annoying. But, a color shift of his scales to silver would lessen the effect and he resumed his attack after releasing Trigon's arm and wrapping coils around his neck and squeezing hard.

Trigon started to choke and gasp badly. The pressure eventually forced Trigon to teleport away from the fight, leaving Edward to collapse into a pile of rings before returning to his human form.

Edward eyes slowly stopped glowing as he headed for Raven's avatar.

"First blood to me," he said, "But, I fear that this might have only angered him."

"It has, dear," Raven said sadly, "I'm not sure what will happen, though. But, I will be waiting for you to get outta here and back home."

Edward kissed Raven on the forehead and said, "I'll be home soon, love."

Edward pulled his love into his arms then. But a moment later, the scene disappeared and took Raven with it.

**[Back in the cell]**

"Dammit!" Edward snarled as his meditation was interrupted by Jared.

"No more meditation for you!" he snarled as he backhanded Edward, "That's from my father!"

Edward tasted the tang of his own blood and spat in the face of his captor as the wound healed.

To Edward's surprise, Jared howled in pain, skin blistering as Edward watched.

"That'll teach you not to lay a hand on me again, sonny," Edward said, "Guess dragon blood doesn't agree with you."

"You'll pay for that," Jared snarled.

"Release me and give it your best shot," Edward challenged, "But, then, you don't want to disappoint Daddy Dearest, now, do you? Or maybe you're scared that I might actually beat you and send you to Hell, eh?"

Jared snarled, "I'd whip you any day of the week."

"Yeah, right," Edward said, "I seriously doubt that you have the stones to put that idea to the test, punk. I can whip your ass before anyone could stop me."

Jared snarled in rage as he moved to backhand Edward again. This time, Edward was ready and as the hand came towards him, Edward used his remaining weapon.

Jared screamed as Edward bit down, using sharpened teeth, the only things he could morph without causing pain.

Jared made the mistake of also using his other hand to try to pry Edward's teeth away. Edward shapeshifted successfully as the supernatural current went into Jared as well, weakening the overall effect.

Jared collapsed in agony as the last thing he'd remember before the blackness took him was a very pleased, yet, angry Dragon!

"I'm free!" Edward said, then, loosed a massive ROAR that shook the building.

Edward took a moment to put his tormentor on ice…literally as Jared was quickly coated in enough ice that it would take a while for it to thaw or even to be loosened.

"Who's next?" Edward asked himself….

* * *

><p><em>Who<em> _indeed? After a hiatus due to moving and a few other things, it was time to update. I've got a few ideas to salvage this story, but, I need your help as well. That is a reason to continue this story. How to provide a reason is simple...REVIEW, please! It's kind of tough not seeing any reviews. Does this story stink on ice? Is it a good one? Does it need improving or do you folks think it's heading in a good direction and you are happy with it._

_It's been a couple of months since this was updated...long enough that the previous chapters went bye-bye from the document system...LOL!  
><em>

_Seriously, though and at the risk of sounding upset (I'm not), I have to get this off my chest: I see stories in this section that have a ton of reviews, good, bad and indifferent. Tell you what I'll do: If you're an active author and have TT stories here (in progress or not), if you leave me a review of any sort, I will return the favor ASAP. This isn't a tit for tat thing where if you leave a bad review, I trash your story in return.  
><em>

_OK...Edward's out of the bonds and temporarily taken care of jared...There's still Jesse and Jacob to handle as well as getting Edward back home. That is coming up as well as a "side story" I'm working on as well.  
><em>

_That story, for a teaser, is a partial crossover with Titanic (not the movie...part of Edward's history). The TT will be in that story, but, more of an audience than anything else.  
><em>

_TTYL!  
><em>


	7. Rescue Pt 1

**Chapter 7  
>[Titan Tower]<strong>

Raven emerged from her meditation session with a new peace of mind. She wasn't sure what had happened, but, she had a vision where she had been able to contact Edward somehow and that he was alive. Not only alive, but, she felt that he was comforting her as well.

He was also embroiled in a short fight with her father who was forced to retreat after Edward, in the form of a giant snake, bit Trigon hard.

Edward held Raven as she cried, but, even as that was happening, the link was broken again. That's when she returned to herself.

She smiled despite her inner pain and stood up. She went down to the common room where the rest of the team was brooding. They had come to the conclusion that Edward might have been killed after all.

"Edward's alive," Raven said softly.

Starfire said, "Friend Edward's alive?"

"Uh-huh," Raven replied, "I had a vision when I was meditating. He and Trigon got into a fight. Edward won, but, barely. Trigon's sporting snake bites, I hope.

"But, he doesn't know where he is."

Arella, who had finally been released from the medical wing, said, "Trigon might have your boyfriend trapped in another dimension, dear. He had taken over a few others before his failed attempt here."

"Is there a way to track him down, Ms. Roth?" Robin asked.

"Only Rae can track him down, but, it will take all of her powers to do it," Arella said, "It will severely drain her and if Edward's where I think he is, it might be a one way trip for my daughter."

"I don't care about that," Raven said, "I'll risk it. Edward would do no less for me or the others here, Mother. He's irreplaceable.

"He might be able to bring me back with his own teleportation abilities. I'll need to be left alone, though. That means you as well, Starfire. But, I need to talk to Mother first."

Arella nodded, "You must really love him, Rachel. I'll do what I can to help."

Beast Boy said, "Rachel?"

Raven glared at Beast Boy and warned, "Don't even think about giving me grief over my real name."

Beast Boy said, "Aw, come on, Raven! You gave me loads of grief when you found out my real name."

Terra said, "I got your back, Raven." She giggled at that one.

Beast Boy chose not to reply, just sat there stewing as Raven and Arella left. Robin looked as they left, then at Beast Boy and Terra. He laughed despite what was going on. If Raven said Edward was still alive, that was good enough for him.

**[Raven's room]**

Raven allowed her mother to enter and they both sat down.

"Where would Edward be, Mother?" Raven asked.

"Rae-Rae, if Edward's where I think he is, he's in grave danger," Arella said, "It's where your father is quite powerful and would be hard to defeat. Edward would need all the help he could get. Trigon is, even there, more susceptible to your powers, now. When you were cleansed of his evil, your powers became pure."

"Why are my powers still black, then?" Raven asked. She was allowing her mother to use nicknames that the other Titans would get at the least a glare from her, except Edward.

"In times of stress, when you need to tap into the very source of your restored powers, the energy will be white once more," Arella said, "Right now, you're barely scratching the surface of your true potential. Daughter of my heart, that's why you had to maintain control of your emotions and why for so long you weren't allowed to feel anything.

"Now, with Trigon's evil gone and you're letting yourself feel, that will aide your powers more. The strongest emotion you have now, the one that you need to maintain is your love for Edward. Love, my dear child, will be your greatest ally and his as well.

"You both will need that to overcome Trigon and his sons."

"Mother, are they my true brothers or half-brothers?" Raven asked, dreading the reply.

"Rachel," Arella said, "They are your half-brothers. They are triplets born to a woman now deceased. Trigon 'raised' them and they've sworn their fealty to him in exchange. He needs them to be his portal now. A task, I fear, they welcome. As much as you tried to fight your demonic side, they have fully embraced it. In the process, they have forsworn their humanity. They will do everything they can to oppose you and Edward."

Raven breathed a sigh of relief at that. Had they been her full blood brothers, she might have been impeded by thoughts of redemption for them. Now, she'd have none and be focused on finding Edward.

**[Trigon's Throne Room]**

Trigon had sent Jared on the errand when he sensed Edward and Raven had somehow reconnected and had expected a report several hours before.

As he was waiting, he heard and felt Edward's roaring in the dungeons and it did not sound like a roar of agony, but a roar of victory.

He summoned Jesse and Jacob and said, "Find out where your brother is! Bring him to me immediately."

"Yes, father," the two said at the same time and departed the throne room.

They headed towards the dungeons and finally arrived at Edward's cell. There, they saw the ropes that bound Edward, laying in flaccid loops on the floor and Jared covered in a shell of melting ice.

"SHIT!" Jesse said as he opened the door to be greeted by a ham sized gorilla fist that knocked him into the far wall and out cold.

Edward roared and leapt at the remaining triplet and shapeshifting to his human form grabbed Jacob and picked him off the ground.

Edward then took pleasure in returning the slap from earlier, "That's from Raven," he snarled and then, "This one's from me." Jacob felt several teeth loosen with the punch Edward laid out.

"You're going to show me the way out of this hellhole," Edward demanded, "Or do I knock you out and blast my way through?"

"I will never help you," Jacob said and spat in Edward's face. Edward was already teetering on the edge and as his eyes started glowing red, Jacob started to know fear.

"Fine, you little shit," Edward snarled, "I'll tear this place down and MAKE IT YOUR TOMB!"

Edward proceeded to throw Jacob and Jared into the cell he was in and tied all three of them together. He had to break Jared out of the ice first, but, after a couple minutes, he had the triplets tied with several knots that would make untying extremely unlikely.

Jesse tried to use his own powers and was rewarded the same way Edward was…with a nasty jolt. This time, all three brothers were affected and they groaned in pain.

"I see that these ropes don't care who it's binding," Edward said, "Have fun getting out of it. Oh, that's right. Since your brother wouldn't help me, I'll break my way out of this place and if the building collapses on you, have fun in Hell."

As a parting gift, Edward pulled down his drawers and said, "Bite my pale fleshy ass," as he mooned them. Pulling his britches up, he walked away and closed the door.

He snapped the key off after closing the door, then, after morphing to mini dragon, used his flame breath to melt the lock. To any mortal, they were locked in there until someone could break the door down.

He took to the air, such as it was and headed toward the end of the hallway. A blast of lightning hit the door, weakening it. Edward crashed through it and continued up the passageway.

He stopped short as a guard approached. Edward saw that this guard was made of fire. Edward switched to his ice breath and blasted the guard with it. As Edward expected, the guard couldn't survive that and vanished in a puff of smoke and steam.

Baring his teeth, he continued on, killing the guards that he encountered. The Titans no kill rule didn't apply to these creatures, so, Edward just eliminated them as needed.

He didn't bother opening doors, he blasted those apart as well and those that didn't fly apart with the lightning breath were shattered by Edward's brute strength. He wasn't holding back anymore.

Actually, the further on that Edward got, the angrier he became. His anger burned deep within him. The humiliation of being captured; the pain he went through trying to shapeshift; and, the physical affronts all, in his mind, warranted a massive payback. The pain inflicted on Raven also was making this personal for Edward.

**[Meanwhile]**

"Where are those sons of mine?" Trigon roared. The demon was past wondering where all three of his sons were at. He had suspected that their special guest was somehow free.

He summoned several minions and told them, "Find out where my sons are and bring them to me! Find out if that creature we captured is loose as well, and if he is…KILL HIM!"

One said, "Yes, my liege, it will be done." They moved out and headed for the dungeons.

As Trigon waited, though, he grew uneasy. He had tried to invade the mindscape where Edward and Raven were reuniting and was beaten back barely. He didn't say anything, but, his right arm was throbbing in phantom pain…where Edward had clamped down in his giant snake form.

Trigon reached out with his mind and realized that not only was Edward on the loose and tearing through walls and doors to escape, but, that his sons had been defeated. Had Trigon not needed them to be portals, he would have them killed for the failure. Then, again, he only needed one of them to survive to be a portal. He decided that one of the triplets would die as a warning to others not to fail him again.

Trigon knew that if Edward reached the throne room that there'd only be one survivor. And, Trigon would pull every trick in the book to make sure that he would survive.

As he contemplated his next move, the building shuddered as cracks formed in the floor. They were hairline cracks, but, bore witness to the fact that there was a major fight happening.

Trigon muttered a few profanities in his language as the building shuddered a second time.

**[Several floors down]**

The minions that Trigon had sent had encountered Edward and were being picked off, one by one. Also, the guards had realized that their prisoner was loose in the castle and had called reinforcements…lots of them to try to subdue Edward.

"You want a piece of me," Edward snarled, "COME GET SOME!" He lit up his spinal ridges at full intensity and started plowing through the ranks of the guards, snuffing out their flames as quickly as he possibly could. But, they had sheer numbers on their side.

They piled on Edward, burning him in the process. That forced Edward into a defensive fight and slammed into the wall, causing that to crack and crumble under the onslaught. He roared in pain again as he crushed more against the other wall, causing that to crack as well.

The pain was enraging Edward more and more, though, and that was feeding his strength.

Edward moved forward, gaining ground, inch by inch. Eyes glowing a bright red, he was truly a fearsome sight to behold. But, Trigon's various minions were unafraid of one ticked off Dragon. They feared their master even more than the death they were sure to meet at Edward's hands.

What Edward didn't know is that his rage was being supernaturally inflated by Jacob. The one son of Trigon was hoping that by inflating Edward's anger, Edward would make a mistake and be seriously harmed by his father.

**[Raven's room]**

As Edward was tearing through Trigon's castle, Raven and Arella had found the spells necessary for her to locate and teleport to her best friend. She was worried about what she's find and even if she could get home. The prospect of this being a one way trip frightened the teenager, however, Edward had fearlessly charged into her own mind months ago to protect her from Malchoir and then protected her in so many other ways. She knew Edward wouldn't expect her to repay that. However, Raven was taught by the monks of Azarath that she had to repay debts of honor, so, being afraid was irrelevant.

Arella looked at her only child with tears brimming as she said, "This is probably a one way trip for you, Rachel. I know that you can't be talked out of this, but, know that I love you. We'll be here waiting for you, regardless. Edward might have to bring you back somehow."

Raven reached up to Arella, "I'll be fine, mother. Even if I an exhausted, I know Edward will sacrifice some of his life force if needed. I promise I will be back."

Raven had made a rare exception and allowed the others into her room and she gave everyone a hug.

Starfire was close to tears, worried that her sister in arms might not come back.

"Starfire," Raven said, "Don't be worried. Edward and I will be teleporting back before you know it."

Starfire sniffled and said, "Please bring friend Edward home." Robin put his arm around Starfire's waist as the Tamaranian princess gave into her emotions.

Beast Boy got a hug as well. Raven said, "Garfield, outside of Edward, you're the best friend I could have had. You're gone well past friend, though. You are my little brother, as Edward predicted, and, for that, I'm very grateful."

Beast Boy smiled and said, "Rachel, be careful…and thank you."

Terra said, "I'll keep him in line, Raven."

Cyborg said, "I'll keep the T-Car ready for you." They hugged each other. The team knew it was serious if Raven was hugging everyone. For all they knew, it was a suicide mission. But, no one dared to try to talk Raven out of it.

They all filed out of the room then, Robin being the last one and he said, "You be careful, Raven. We need you and Edward on the team." Raven gave a rare smile to Robin. She remembered Robin coming for her, and, to not come back would be dishonoring everything he'd done for her.

He left and as the doors closed, Raven took her powder and carefully spread a pattern on the floor.

Then, she sat in the center of the pattern and chanted the words to a very complex spell. As she did, the pattern began to glow in response to the words.

After the incantation was complete, there was a blinding flash of light and the pattern started spinning in place. Raven's hair flew in all directions as she was lifted into the air. The pattern spun for several seconds and finally, with an even brighter flash of light…Raven disappeared from sight.

**[Outside Trigon's castle]**

About 5 miles from Trigon's castle, there was a growing spot of light, as if a door was opening. The spot grew wider and brighter until, finally, a figure was cast onto the ground. The portal disappeared as quickly as it came.

The lone figure stood up on shaky legs and grasped what was left of a tree to lean on. It was Raven, of course.

She shook her head to clear it and wished she hadn't. Soon as she did that, she felt Edward's presence return in full force…and rage. His mental imprint was blinding and she groaned with the effort to shield herself and her emoticlones from the sudden tsunami of anger she was feeling.

His presence, usually a dull pink to red was off the scale, very bright red. She had to risk using the link, though, to get through.

[Edward! It's Raven,] she called out.

She was rewarded with a snarl of rage. Jacob had brought all of Edward's dragon instinct into play and all his anger to the forefront.

[Honey, please. It's me. I'm here, I found you,] she said, fighting the waves of anger coming from him.

There was more snarling through the link.

Raven fought back tears. She knew something had driven Edward totally over the edge.

_Rae-Rae,_ one of her emotions said, _Let me try. Edward still loves us. His anger's totally consumed him, but, he needs to see that we're here. He's so blinded right now that it's going to take a lot to get through._

Raven nodded.

[Edward,] Raven called out again, [Please, calm down. Love wants to talk to you. Please, listen to her.]

The snarling from Edward stopped for a moment and Love seized the opportunity. She sent a massive wave of true, unfettered love his way.

[Ed, come on, sweetheart,] Love called through the link, [We're here. It's going to be all right. Don't do this to Rae. You're hurting us.]

[Rae?] Edward said, [Is that really you?]

Raven replied, [Of course it is, my love! I couldn't let you do this alone.]

[You shouldn't have come,] he objected.

[Don't be silly, Edward. I had to. You've done no less for me,] she countered.

She could see and feel Edward's anger leveling out and dropping some.

In the castle, Edward knew it was really his girlfriend. He calmed down enough to finally sense her distinctive presence. He sensed her worry for him.

By then, everything Trigon had sent to stop him was gone. The minions were smoking corpses or, simply vanished. He had actually made it to the final wall and with a couple hits with his tail; he broke through into the open air. He roared out his victory call that echoed across the landscape.

That, however, confirmed to Trigon that his prisoner had escaped. It also didn't escape his notice that Raven had arrived.

Trigon realized he could end both threats at once and teleported to stop Edward.

* * *

><p><em>Cliffhanger time! Not to worry...the final fight is coming up pretty soon. Edward's still quite angry due to Jacob's powers, but, assuming that Edward and Raven can stop Trigon in this alternate realm, will they have to ensure that Trigon's alternate portals do not survive?<em>

_Then, will they even get home? Raven's drained, but, she doesn't know how bad yet. Will we see another aspect of Edward's abilities come into play? Those answers are coming and soon, I think. I've gotten over the writer's block, looks like.  
><em>

_And, yes, Raven's seriously OOC here. I've decided to play her as more emotional in this story, and, probably in others to come. She, and the other Titans, will be at a crossroads of sorts soon. Raven has to really get in touch with how she feels towards the entire team. And, she's going to have to get used to Arella being around. I will say that Arella's going to be featured more often, especially since Azarath's gone in this AU. But, I don't want to give away too much...*chuckle*  
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_I'm aware that these chapters are pretty long...probably longer than some folks like. Sorry about that, I'm really not comfortable in making really "short" chapters. This one, for example, in MS Word, was only 11 pages...Not too shabby. (In comparison, my initial story was well over 100 typed pages...and I split that up a bit too much.)  
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_Remember...reviews greatly appreciated ;)  
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_See y'all soon!  
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	8. Rescue Pt 2

**Chapter 8**

Trigon intercepted Edward as soon as he punched through the wall. Trigon snarled, "So, you're the insolent beast who thinks he can bust break through my home and get away with it?"

"Hark who's talking!" Edward replied, "You're the one who turned the planet's population to stone, and tried to hurt my friends!"

"You mean those brats and my daughter?" Trigon said, "I will be avenged on the lot of them!"

"Touch Raven again, monster, and I'll rip your head off and crap down your neck," Edward replied angrily.

"You're in my domain now!" Trigon roared, "I determine who lives and who dies here."

"Like you did to Azarath, huh? Kill everyone and leave Arella alive, for your revenge?" Edward challenged, "You think you can actually kill me? Last I knew; you can be hurt! How is the arm, by the way? Guess it's sore from your failed attempt to invade my thoughts."

"Those fools in Azarath didn't deserve to live. I allowed Arella to live to tell the tale and let my daughter know her days were numbered, as are yours," Trigon said.

"You couldn't take over the Earth because you were too confident," Edward sneered, "You underestimated several things, which I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of knowing. Except for one and that is Raven's capacity to love. She loved her friends enough to give them a fraction of her abilities. She loves her friends today."

"What about you?" Trigon said, "My daughter should be here helping you, but, she isn't. Guess she doesn't love you as much as you think. She's too afraid of what will happen with you."

"Raven's the bravest woman I've known in centuries, demon," Edward snarled, "She was brave in that hell you stuck her in. She defeated your ass and kicked you off the planet and back where you came from.

"And, I hate to tell you this…"

"I am here," Raven said, emerging from the dead trees.

The thing is, Trigon had sucked the very life force out of the dimension they were in. It looked exactly as Raven described Earth when everyone was turned to stone.

Here, the trees looked dead. Native wildlife was petrified. The very sky was blood red; the local star was dimmed behind the layer of clouds. Edward was, deep down horrified at the destruction. On one hand, he was glad he was also petrified. On the other hand, he burned with a desire to avenge the Earth and right the wrong that was done to the planet itself. It had sustained him for centuries without asking anything in return. That didn't matter to Edward Barnes one bit. He knew a debt of honor when he saw it and the affront to the planet needed a response.

Edward smiled, [Glad you could make it. The main event is about to start and I need your help.]

[My powers are tapped, love,] Raven said, [The spell that allowed me to come here was one of the most powerful I've had to cast in a long time. Mother and the team are waiting for us to return.]

[I can't return until this threat to the planet is gone,] Edward said, [I wish it weren't so.]

[I do as well,] Raven said, [But, Trigon was never my father. Like I told him: "Fathers are kind. Fathers raise you. Fathers protect you. I was protected by the monks of Azarath. I was raised by my friends." Earth is my home and he wasn't welcome there.]

[That explains what you said in one of your nightmares, sweetie,] Edward said, putting things together.

Edward didn't have time to ponder it, though as Trigon tried to blast Raven with his eye beams.

She managed to get out of the way, barely as her cloak started smoking.

Edward's reaction was instantly visible as his eyes took on a deadly red glow and his scales went from red-brown to various patterns of coloration.

His horns sharpened into spikes and the roar he let loose was of unbridled rage.

"_**NO ONE ATTACKS RAVEN!**_" he declared. He charged Trigon with every ounce of his incredible strength behind it. The force that slammed into Trigon was more than enough to throw him through the air. Trigon landed with a thud.

Edward was beyond angry and didn't even wait for his spinal ridges to flash their warning. Edward unleashed a powerful lightning blast that was far more powerful than what he used on Malchior months before. That impacted Trigon, and the bolts hit the demon and scored his hide.

Trigon roared in pain as the bolts hit him.

But, it didn't put the demon down, but, served to further anger him. He stood up and used his eye beams.

Those hit Edward, causing him intense pain in the process as his scales absorbed the impact. But, Edward gritted his teeth, not willing to give Trigon any measure of satisfaction by hearing him roar.

Raven was worried, though. She saw the initial exchange, of course. Both Edward and Trigon looked to be evenly matched, but, Raven also knew Edward's capabilities and he hadn't even tapped those to their full potential.

Trigon charged at Edward, hoping to gore Edward with his antlers. Edward didn't bother trying to dodge the attack. No, he welcomed the attempt. His horns, all of them, appeared to get longer as Raven watched and they ended in some nasty looking points. Edward had diverted some of his mass in the deadlier configuration. His scales also developed far more dangerous edges. Each scale was as sharp as the scale he gave to Kole to use as a knife.

Edward, at the last second, lowered his head and neck, then, as soon as Trigon crossed over, he slammed his head up. The horns tore gouges across Trigon's thighs and groin. His scales ripped into Trigon's hide as well, slicing the skin to ribbons in the process

Trigon let off a bellow of pain. It felt like red hot pokers had hit him. Edward snarled, but, didn't say anything. He looked and saw the damage done to Trigon.

[Ouch!] was all Raven said via the link. He felt her mental imprint actually go from her normal violet to a weird shade of green.

The next thing Edward heard…and felt was poor Raven getting sick to her stomach. That lasted several long seconds as she leaned against a tree and vomited.

Edward felt bad about that, but, he couldn't allow that to distract him. He responded with a shapeshift to a velociraptor. He wanted to use the natural dagger those dinosaurs had and, well, Beast Boy had taught him that form a while back, so, Edward opted to use it.

Trigon was still in agony, ichor flowing down his legs, sizzling as it hit the ground.

[Acid?] Edward said to Raven.

[Sort of,] she replied, [I'll explain later, after I'm able to clean up some.]

Edward roared again and raced towards his foe. Trigon merely caught Edward and raised him up to look him in the eye.

That played into Edward's hands…or feet in this case. There was a horrible wet ripping sound as the daggers on his feet tore into Trigon's gut, leaving more gouges in his flesh.

Trigon dropped Edward and doubled over. He wasn't disemboweled, but, there was more blood being spilled.

Edward, by then, had resumed his dragon form and struck Trigon with a massive tail strike. Trigon flew into the same building where he held Edward prisoner, and, where Trigon's sons were still trying to affect Edward's emotions despite being tied up.

The building was on the verge of collapse as it was and when Trigon hit the outer wall and slid down, parts of the building collapsed as well.

In fact, as the building was badly damaged in Edward's escape, as Trigon got to his feet, there was a deafening roar and a massive cloud of dust as the entire building came down.

No one heard the death screams from Trigon's sons.

As the dust cloud spread out, Edward flapped his wings and blew the dust away from Raven.

"Looks like you forgot someone was in there," Edward said to Trigon.

"What do you mean?" Trigon said.

"Your sons were in the same cell I was in," Edward said, "Your portals are dead. You are trapped here, for eternity.

The look on Trigon's face was unreadable for a moment as the impact of Edward's statement set in.

That was replaced by the look of incredible rage! Sure, he was going to have one killed as an example to all others. But, all of his portals were dead, or in Raven's case, she was unusable as his portal.

Trigon screamed, "_**YOU SON OF A *****! YOU KILLED MY SONS!**_"

"And, you destroyed worlds!" Edward said, "You killed living beings for your own pleasure. I'm not going to shed a tear for your loss. What's the loss of your children when you robbed entire planets of life? Humanoid life forms, local animals. I am not going to take pity on you…nor show you MERCY! You tried to attack the woman I love. The one who is your daughter. So, don't even go there."

Trigon slumped down, "Then, kill me."

"Death," Edward said, "is too good for you. You will rot here anyway. Your wounds will prove fatal regardless. You have no way to treat them. You will become infected and you will die a slow, painful death.

"Those you killed have been avenged."

[You won't kill him outright?] Raven asked via the link.

[Oh, I should kill him, my love,] Edward said, [He doesn't deserve the kind of death that is quick. I'd say painless as well, but, that doesn't apply now.]

[He doesn't think so! Behind you!] Raven yelled.

Trigon had gotten up and charged at Edward again. Edward turned around and formed a Texas Longhorn. Trigon ended up impaling himself on the horns before collapsing again. Edward shapeshifted again, this time back to human form.

The fight, albeit brief, was over. Trigon rolled over and crawling towards the rubble pile, made his way over there. He didn't make it. With a strangled gasp, he collapsed.

Trigon's reign ended with that final breath. As he died, Edward and Raven looked around.

As Trigon's body disintegrated, the landscape was coming back to life. The trees were growing new leaves. The fields were green again. The animals returned to flesh and blood. They ran away, fast as their feet could carry them.

Raven looked at Edward and said aloud, "He's finally gone." She smiled broadly as well. Raven certainly was not going to mourn this loss.

But, that look faded in a moment as Raven collapsed. Edward caught her as she fell.

Edward checked her vital signs and was relieved to realize that she had merely fainted. He laid her gently on the ground and raised her feet for a few moments till she woke up.

"You all right?" Edward asked.

"I will be, dear," Raven said.

"Trigon's really gone, isn't he?" she asked a second later.

"I believe so, yes," Edward said.

"I won't miss him," Raven said, "But, I..I…"

Her voice cracked then and Edward just held the empathy as her control finally failed her and she just wept into Edward's shoulder.

But, Edward was crying as well. He had suffered as much as Raven had, if not more.

As time passed, both Dragon and empath's emotions calmed, having released the toxic aspect into the foreign soil.

Edward bent over to give Raven a kiss on the forehead, but, Raven knocked him over and covered his mouth with hers.

When they came up for air, Edward said, "That was…awesome, Rae! Thank you."

Raven pulled her hood up, mainly to hide the blush that was forming.

"How do we get home, though?" Edward asked.

Raven sniffled, "My powers are badly weakened. I don't know if we can get back home safely."

Edward thought about it for several long moments, absorbing the news. He frowned as he ran through the possibilities and finally sat down besides Raven.

"I have an idea, hon," Edward said, "With Trigon and his sons dead, if they had set up a block to prevent my teleportation, would that be gone?"

"It might be," Raven replied after a moment, "But, you've never done a trans-dimension teleport, have you?"

"No," Edward replied, "Place to place and from one time period to another, yeah. I need the destination in mind as well as the time. Like, I could teleport to the Titanic before she sank. Or I could feasibly even go back to visit the dinosaurs. Teleporting from here shouldn't be that difficult."

"It's worth a shot," Raven said.

Edward morphed back to his Dragon form. After kneeling down, Raven got on his back and Edward took to the air.

He cleared the newly formed treetops and smiled to himself despite the fatigue running through his frame.

[I don't know how long this will take to do, Rae], he said telepathically.

[I can hold my breath for a while, dear,] she said.

With that, Edward pictured in his mind the roof of Titan Tower and teleported.

**[Back at the Tower]**

The other Titans and Arella waited for some sign that Edward and Raven were back. Robin had taken the extraordinary step of informing the mayor that they were unavailable to answer any alarms unless they were absolutely needed. The mayor was certainly surprised to see that the Titans were unable to respond to the alarm for a while, but, understood why.

"I hope friend Edward's unharmed," Starfire said.

"We all do, Star," Robin said.

The team felt powerless to do anything and getting something to eat was totally out of the question, even though no one ate since the drama had started.

When Raven had informed the team that she knew Edward was alive, they were of course, very happy to hear that, but, that was replaced with worry the longer that Raven was gone.

They all knew, deep down, that barring a miracle, neither would be back.

As the minutes turned into hours, though, the team recounted their own little stories about Edward, mainly to fill Arella in on her daughter's shapeshifting boyfriend.

Robin told her how Edward initially helped take down a couple of petty bank robbers and was invited to stay over.

Then, they told of the true miracle from the following day in the rescue of Terra. Terra hadn't gotten the entire story until then and in her mind, she was reminded of the sacrifice the team as a whole made on her behalf, even after she betrayed them. Terra looked like she was about to lose it, but, she managed to get hold of her emotions. Beast Boy merely had his arm around her shoulder and she drew strength from that.

They told Arella about Raven's first attempt to cook and how Starfire (who was giggling at this one) was the only one who enjoyed the pancakes. That led, of course, to Edward taking Raven under his wing to teach her how to cook. Her skills had improved to the point that she was allowed to cook at times.

They regaled Arella with how Slade was taken down when he tried to reclaim Terra as his apprentice. Everyone winced when Terra said that one of the rocks she chucked at Slade was aimed at high speed for his groin.

"I wish you could have done that to Trigon," Arella said wistfully hearing that.

"Believe me," Terra said bitterly, "Slade had that coming." Beast Boy nodded at that one. Terra had finally taken Beast Boy aside recently and told him the awful truth that she had slept with Slade.

While Beast Boy was furious at Slade and, for a moment, at Terra herself, he also knew that he had to forgive Terra once again. Terra cried as she told him, and, his heart melted as she apologized profusely.

Beast Boy had taken her into his arms and when she had cried herself out, he said, "I forgive you, Terra."

She had looked up in surprise, expecting just the opposite. Beast Boy just held her. He didn't have to say another word…he didn't need to. She knew in her heart that he meant it.

Raven had, of course, sensed the geomancer's anguish, but, wisely didn't let on that she knew. She didn't even tell Edward at the time.

They also told Arella about Malchior's attack on Raven. At first, Arella was upset, but, as that story went on, Arella realized that Edward was first and foremost Raven's boyfriend, but, she came to see Edward as a father figure to Raven as well. That worried Arella as she knew that Edward couldn't balance his deep emotions with everything else easily. Arella saw how protective Edward is of Raven, but, also realized that he's just as protective of the entire team.

When they got to the part where the children were visiting, Arella was surprised to hear that Raven had displayed a maternal instinct towards them, to the point Edward had to get sterner then he liked with her for a moment.

Then, Arella got several laughs hearing about Kole's visit.

In the middle of that story, though, the Tower shook with a sudden impact.

"What was that?" Cyborg said. They raced to the roof as alarms sounded.

Starfire, being the fastest, reached the roof first and let off a squeal of joy.

"Glorious!" she said, "They have returned!"

Yes, the thud was Edward and Raven crashing into the roof of the Tower…

* * *

><p><em>OK, that's done! But, why did Edward crash into the Tower when he usually lands as gently as possible? That's in the next chapter obviously.<em>

_Given the rather dark tones here, I'm pondering changing the rating to "M", so, don't be worried if the story disappears from the default listings soon (if at all).  
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_Arella's going to be sticking around the Tower, though, for a while. With Azarath gone, there's no need for her to return there.  
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_Sorry it took longer to post this than I had hoped. This would have been posted last weekend, but, there were some issues with the story. One was a purely technical one...Blasted MSWord decided to lose part of the manuscript and that was despite the autosave being turned on. Then again, the part of the story it lost, I wasn't liking the way it was worded and that was hurting the flow. That means that I had to re-write 90% of the chapter.  
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_Some authors will notice I've started giving out reviews. I can't do that for each story I read, though. If the story is a good one, you might get a review. I try to leave good reviews, but, I would be remiss in not pointing out errors.  
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_It's kind of discouraging, though, to see this story not getting reviews and other stories with hundreds of reviews. That undermines the positive feelings I get seeing more hits on the stories in the stat pages. One story I've left reviews on has only a few more chapters than this one will, has close to 600 reviews...Talk about motivation, right?  
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_I don't want to say to folks "I need [insert number here] reviews to release the next chapter." I've groused at other writers in different genres for basically holding their story hostage to appease their need for reviews. However, I took a two month break (writer's block and other things I've previously explained) and ZERO, ZILCH, NIL, NADA in the reviews! That might have made a huge difference in my motivation levels! Reviews help get my juices going, but, a lack of reviews makes me wonder if I'm missing something.  
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_So, please...Help a "starving writer" out. If you like the stories, I want to know. If you think they suck...please, man up and tell me to my face why they suck. I'm adaptable here. But, I need a balance point as well. Am I portraying Raven too warm and cuddly, for example? Should I kick Trigon up a notch or two in this chapter? I don't mind a partial re-write!  
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_*Sigh* I know I'm coming off as upset. In some ways, I am upset and discouraged. I write these partially for myself, but, I also write these for Teen Titan fans. I've got more ideas (as in bringing Jericho into a story or two) for stories, but, to "feed the muse" needs feedback. To paraphrase Cyborg..."Needs gravy...**AND PLENTY OF IT**!" Hehe.  
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_Next chapter wraps things up.  
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	9. Recovery and another invasion!

**Chapter 9  
>[Tower Roof]<strong>

The team had raced to the roof after hearing and feeling a large impact. As they hit the roof, it was apparent that Edward had not landed gracefully at all. In fact, he was out cold as was Raven, laying several feet away.

It looked like they passed out just as they emerged from the teleport attempt. Raven's cloak was stiff as a board from the cold and she was turning blue-gray.

Cyborg swore and said, "Get 2 gurneys, the portable respirators, oxygen, and the thermal blankets."

Edward was also turning blue and was cold to the touch, but, he had, luckily, morphed back to his human form on impact.

Starfire and Robin raced in to get the materials needed as Beast Boy and Terra turned Edward and Raven onto their backs.

Cyborg scanned them both and said, "Respiratory arrest and hypothermia in both."

Beast Boy tilted Edward's head back and began rescue breaths on him while Terra hurried and did the same for Raven.

Edward was proving hard to get air into and Cyborg said after a moment, "I got this, BB."

They switched places quickly as Cyborg's lung power was enough to overcome the resistance.

Starfire and Robin returned with the requested items as well as portable defib units and heart monitors.

Cyborg said quickly, "Good thinking, Rob! Get these hooked up, quickly."

Robin said, "Take over for Cyborg, Star."

The Tamaranian princess swapped with Cyborg and she definitely was able to breathe for Edward.

Cyborg and Robin quickly attached the systems to the fallen Titans and Cyborg shook his head at the results.

"Their blood oxygen levels are still critical," he said, "If they don't start breathing on their own soon, we could lose them."

Arella reached down and held Raven's hand. She was trying to hold it together, but, it didn't take an empath to see that she felt powerless to keep Raven alive.

"Come on, Rachel," she said softly, "You have to meet us halfway. Breathe, girl!"

Cyborg hooked up the portable life support units and set them for 75% forced oxygen each. He quickly attached Raven up first and got the machine going.

Edward was then attached to his machine and the oxygen started flowing.

The oxygen sensors started to respond to the efforts and the oxygen level started to climb slowly.

But, after several long minutes of the forced breathing and the thermal blankets covering both Titans, Edward's special nature kicked in and he started to have a seizure. He thrashed for several minutes, with Starfire and Cyborg trying to hold him down. It was like trying to hold back a runaway train, though.

It passed and he opened his eyes, blinking against the bright sunlight. Terra held her hand over his eyes and gave him a soft smile.

"Tara?" Edward said, using her real name.

"Yeah," she said, "We're here. You made it home."

"Raven?" he asked.

"Sister Raven is…not well," Starfire said.

"What do you mean, 'not well', Koriand'r?" Edward said, switching to her language.

"She is not doing the breathing and is…" she didn't finish as Edward rolled over and tore the equipment off himself.

"No," Edward said, "Rae, come on, fight!"

He crawled over to her, still very weakened and took her other hand. It was still icy cold.

[Rae?] he asked telepathically. There was a deafening silence from the other end of the link. It felt that he was shouting into black nothingness.

He looked at the vital signs and saw that they were very weak. Body temperature was still well below normal, pulse was low. Heart rhythm was a slow sinus rhythm, bordering on bradycardia. Oxygen level was 60%.

"Come on, my love!" Edward snarled, "FIGHT, DAMN YOU! FIGHT!"

Edward's outburst got the other Titans to gather round him.

"She still has a chance, bro!" Cyborg said gently, "Raven's a fighter, we all know that. She needs to be in the infirmary, though."

Starfire held Edward in a gentle embrace as well and said softly, in her language, "Sister Raven will recover. She still has work to do. And, she told me that someday, she wants to be your life mate. Please, don't tell her that."

"She wants to marry me?" he replied in kind.

"Hmm hmm" she replied.

Edward smiled at that and stood up. He was still feeling weakened a bit, but, for his girlfriend, it was irrelevant.

"Let's get her inside, guys," he said.

Cyborg and Robin gathered up the equipment and put that on the 2d gurney as Edward carefully placed Raven on the other gurney. They went back into the Tower.

**[Nevermore]**

As the team was treating Raven, her emoticlones were also recovering, slowly.

Brave was the first one to come awake and muttered, "What hit us this time?"

Of course, there was no reply from anyone else, so, Brave opted to see where the others were at.

"I'll check out Timid first. She'll need reassurance," Brave said aloud. It didn't take long to glide over to Timid's realm where Brave found her face down.

Brave calmly turned Timid over and tried to wake her up.

"Come on, little one," Brave said, "It's all right to wake up."

Timid slowly came to and panicked for a second.

"It's all right, Timid. It's Brave," she said. Timid cautiously reached out an hand and Brave took it. Next thing Brave knew, Timid was bawling up a storm.

"There, there," Brave said, "It's OK."

"Where's Raven?" Timid asked.

"I don't know," Brave said, "We'll find her. The link is unavailable for some reason again. I think we're back home, though."

"That is correct," Wisdom replied, walking up to the other two, "Raven passed out during the teleport. However, we're back in capable hands."

"Where's Rae?" Timid asked.

"She's resting, my dear," Wisdom said, "The fact that we're here, talking to one another is proof that she's alive."

"That's true," Brave said.

Happy also arrived on the scene, but, she didn't look happy at all. But, she was trying to remember what was happening.

As time went by, the other emoticlones arrived as well, but, no Raven. Wisdom and Knowledge were trying to keep the others from panicking too much, though.

"Raven is still in a trance, but, I think she'll come out of it sooner, rather than later," Knowledge said calmly.

"What happened to Edward?" Timid asked. She had grown fond of him. He always knew what to say to help her.

"He'll be OK," Brave said, "He'd recover faster."

More time passed in Nevermore until, at long last, they heard, [Rae, come on, honey. I know you're there. Please, give me a sign.]

"YAY!" Happy squealed. Timid grabbed Happy in a bear hug, which was gratefully returned. Love was beside herself.

[We're here,] Wisdom replied for the group, [Everything all right out there?]

[Yeah,] Edward replied, [Which emoticlone is this?]

[Wisdom,] was the reply back, [Is Raven still out?]

[She is,] Edward said, [Have you found her?]

[Not yet,] Wisdom replied.

[Try looking in Nevermore's center, then,] Edward suggested.

"I'm on it," Brave said and flew off.

[Brave is going to check it out,] Wisdom reported.

[Send Anger as well,] Edward suggested, [She can give Raven a boost, if need be.]

[Fine,] Anger said, [Raven can't really do much without me anyway.] Anger flew after Brave and caught up pretty quickly.

**[Outside]**

Edward, meanwhile, was holding a long vigil at Raven's bedside. Arella was on the other side of Raven.

"Have you made contact?" Arella said.

Edward's smile spoke for him. "I've made contact with her emotions," he said.

It had taken hours to stabilize Raven's vital signs. Edward was too weakened initially to try to heal her, but, when her vitals had improved on their own, Cyborg had suggested that she heal on her own. Arella had agreed to that idea as well seeing that Edward couldn't do anything to bring her powers back to full strength.

Edward had tried every few minutes to use the link and when Wisdom finally answered, he had a hard time controlling his emotions. He'd have time to vent later if needed.

Robin had tried to get some information out of Edward, only to be respectfully told that it would have to wait…by Arella of all people!

Robin was surprised, but, he said, "All right, it can wait a while. Better you than Edward biting my head off, anyway. Let me know when Edward's ready to talk, please."

"You're sweet, Robin," Arella said, "I know you have to know what's going on, but, be patient. Even I can see Edward fought hard and they almost died coming back. Give them time."

"I will," Robin said.

Edward was trying to coax Raven into waking up, but, she wasn't fully ready to emerge.

He knew that two of Raven's strongest emotions were looking for Raven, so, there was no point in getting the mirror, yet. And, Edward was drained physically and mentally.

**[Six hours later]**

Cyborg had set up a couple of cots next to Raven's bed as both Edward and Arella were exhausted. They refused to leave Raven's side except for a bathroom break.

As Cyborg was the backup cook for the team, he stepped up and fixed dinner for the others. For once, he didn't tease Beast Boy over being a vegan. That suited the other shapeshifter just fine.

Edward had finally allowed himself to sleep when Raven's emotions urged him to sleep. In fact, they were quite insistent that he rest. They were sensing through the link that he was pushing his limits.

[Get some sleep, my love,] Raven herself said finally, [I need to stay in this state for a while longer. The teleport was too risky and I'm so very drained right now. My powers are almost drained and this trance is the only way to allow them to recover. I'll be all right.]

Edward was overjoyed to hear Raven's voice again. Granted her emoticlones sounded like her, only Raven had a slight difference that Edward knew. Her mental image was a pale violet at the time, indicating total rest and calm.

Arella noticed the look on his face and surmised that he was talking to Raven finally. Edward laid down and within moments, was snoring lightly.

Arella felt comfortable enough to report to the team the good news.

She went into the Common area and saw the others watching TV.

"I have news," she said with a smile.

"What is it, friend Arella?" Starfire asked.

"I think Edward finally made telepathic contact with Raven," she said, "He's finally sleeping."

"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed as the others cheered the news.

"Edward wouldn't go to sleep if he felt Raven was in further danger," Robin said, "That's good news indeed!"

Terra pumped her fist and outside the window, a large boulder flew in response before falling back into the harbor with a splash.

Even Silkie got caught up in the fun and was making happy sounds. The worm had taken a liking to Edward right off the bat, and, well, Edward liked Silkie also.

"When can we go in and see them?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not for a while," Cyborg said, "I know we're all worried, but, Raven would probably feel better when she wakes up to see her mom and boyfriend there."

"Cyborg's right," Robin replied, "We have to stay patient."

With that Arella headed back to maintain the watch. She had missed so much of Raven's upbringing that she really wanted to spend more time with Raven.

Arella went back into the infirmary and saw that Edward was still asleep as was Raven. She sighed and picked up a magazine to read.

**[Two hours later]**

Edward sat up and noticed that it was dark outside. Raven was still in her trance, and, Arella had fallen asleep.

_Arella looks exhausted,_ he thought. He got up and went over to the cabinet where blankets were kept and got a couple of them out

He first made sure that Arella was comfortable and warm before moving on to Raven's needs.

He felt Raven's forehead and it felt cool to the touch. Same with her hands. He draped the blanket over her form and placed a kiss on her forehead.

[You girls hanging in there?] he asked.

[Scared,] Timid replied.

Edward sent calming feelings her way, [It's all right to feel scared, little one. You've been through a lot lately. Can I tell you a secret?]

[Y—Yeah,] Timid said.

[I was scared as well. I couldn't use most of my abilities,] Edward said sadly, [I was worried that maybe I had met my match. I couldn't even feel any of you.]

[What got you through?] Timid asked softly.

[My deep love for Raven. I had to keep focused on that,] Edward admitted.

[What about now?] Timid asked.

[I'm worried. She drained her powers to help me,] Edward said.

[Be strong, Edward,] Wisdom said, [I think Raven will wake up soon. We've been monitoring her powers and they are slowly recovering. She'll be fine.]

[I know,] he replied, [I guess I'll have to be patient.]

[Yes,] Wisdom replied sagely, [Raven knows you and our mother are here. That's what's keeping her going, I think. Most of us love you as well. There's a few exceptions, but, you have their respect regardless.]

[Let me guess,] Edward said with a soft chuckle, [Rude, Anger and Rage.]

[Right,] Happy said, piping up for the first time. She giggled and continued on, [They are still getting used to you. Rae-Rae never let anyone this close until now.]

[What about Beast Boy?] Edward inquired, [I know he was crushing hard for Raven.]

[Oh, Raven was interested,] Happy said, [But, this was before Terra came around the first time. You haven't met Jealous, yet. But, let's just say that Rae-Rae knew that Beasty Boy was smitten with the blond one and it tore her apart inside.]

Edward caressed Raven's cheek then.

[That's sweet,] Happy said, [Thank you.]

[You felt that?] Edward asked.

[Of course we did!] Happy said, [How else do we know your feelings are for real? Malchior pretended to love us and betrayed us. We wanted to consider Terra a friend, and, well, Rae-Rae was jealous the whole time. Beast Boy, at the time, Raven wanted to love, but, our 'father' wouldn't allow that. When Rae-Rae saw you, at first, she did transfer a lot of her pent up feelings onto you. You were Malchior and Garfield wrapped up in one. But, now, those feelings are 100% true feelings for you. She risked her life…for love.]

[She started to say something earlier,] Edward said.

[She was not crying over Trigon,] Wisdom interjected, [She felt that she had lost you. The whole team did after you disappeared. Raven was at a very low point then. The link we share was gone…she couldn't feel you. As soon as the link snapped, she collapsed. And, the only ones she'll allow near her when that happens are Beast Boy and to some extent, Robin. There's a different bond there. Raven had to go into his mind a few years ago.]

[So, she knows Batman's secret identity?] Edward asked.

[A secret she will take to the grave,] Wisdom replied, [The team knows Robin's secret identity. He showed us that as well. It was a reward for helping him retrieve a briefcase without being asked. Raven said it wasn't necessary. Robin thought otherwise. Raven is aware that Robin…Dick…told you as well out of trust.]

[That's immense trust,] Edward said by way of agreement.

Arella was starting to stir a bit.

[Mom's waking up?] Happy asked.

[I think so,] Edward said, [Anything you want me to tell her?]

[Just that Rae-Rae's going to be waking up soon as well,] Happy said.

Edward sent a hug through the link to the emoticlones and broke contact temporarily.

Arella opened her eyes and said, "Any progress?"

Edward smiled, "Yes, ma'am. I was just talking to her emoticlones. They are saying that her powers are still badly drained, but, recovering. She'll be awake sooner rather than later."

"That's good to know," Arella said, "But, you keep referring to her emotions as if they are real people."

"In many ways, they are," Edward started to explain, "From what Raven told me before, due to Trigon's influence, she was forced to suppress each emotion. In some people, that causes a fragmentation of the person's personality. Because Raven is half human/Azarathian and half-demon, I believe that her mind had to create ways to deal with the emotions. So, in her mind, the emotions have been personified. Each one looks and sounds like Raven, but, they act in the ways Raven would likely act if an emotion were in control. Her Happy emotion, for example, prefers pink over the violet she used to wear. Timid is just that…timid. She doesn't like certain situations. I have to be careful with her, obviously.

"Brave is the side of Raven that likes battles, actually. Anger and Rage, two sides of that particular coin. The team has seen Raven angry as well as enraged beyond reason. That's when her more demonic side is in play. She still has to control that part.

"Rude is the part of Raven that is sarcastic, especially towards Beast Boy."

"How do you know all that?" Arella said.

"Part of it's a very long lifetime of experience. The other part is she's allowed me into her mind, several times," Edward replied, "Each emoticlone, I've interacted with. Some accept me as a friend. Others, merely respect me. First time I was invited, Anger challenged me to a fight. I really did not want to fight an aspect of Raven. But, there wasn't a choice in the matter. If I walked away, I'd lose Anger's respect. If I won, then, there's a measure of respect."

"I take it you won?" Arella asked.

Edward blushed, "Yeah, I did. Anger was testing me and since then, there's been a measure of respect there. It's obviously returned."

"And Rage?" Arella inquired.

"She's very difficult to work with, sadly," Edward said, "But, when the chips are down, Raven's rage can be an ally. She knows that if Raven dies, she will die as well."

"That was the other dragon, right?" Arella said.

"Very good," Edward said, "I see that the others updated you at some point."

"They did," Arella confirmed.

Edward sighed, "That was frightening as well. I don't know how Malchior got into Raven's mind, but, he came close to turning her into a mental vegetable. You see, each emotions has a set aside area within your daughters mind. Like here in the tower, everyone has their own mini-suite. We know how Raven has her own room. Mine is set up in a more relaxed setting and the others, well, when they need or want to talk privately, I'll make the time. They certainly do not need to make an appointment.

"Arella, these Titans are my family. It's gone, even in these few months, from friends to far beyond that. All of them are my brothers and sisters. Yes, Raven is my girlfriend, but, even if something happens and we break up, she will always be considered part of my family.

"You're her mother, therefore, far as I'm concerned, I would like to add you to that list."

Arella looked shocked but replied, "I'm honored. I don't really have a home anymore. My beloved Azarath is gone."

Edward was slightly surprised at the sudden turn in the conversation, but, didn't let that show.

"You don't need to worry about that," Edward said, "You've been our guest for the last few weeks while you healed from those injuries and the other Titans like having you around. Raven won't openly admit it, but, she needs you here. There's times when she needs a mom. She really does love you."

"She does?" Arella said.

"Of course she does, Arella!" Edward exclaimed, "You didn't see her reaction when she thought you had died in Azarath. She was most saddened."

Arella sighed, "I do not deserve that love."

"Why is that?" Edward said.

"I wanted to kill her when she was born," Arella said sadly, "I had been duped by Trigon and he didn't reveal himself until after we…"

"Got it," Edward said, barely suppressing a shudder.

"Well, Rachel was born normally, but, she was demon spawn. The monks of Azarath had taken Rachel in as soon as she was born and trained her. Azar herself raised Rachel for over a decade and loved her instead of me. Azar taught Rachel to control her emotions."

"What happened to bring her to Earth, then?" Edward asked.

"The Prophecy," Arella said, "Azar had died and wanted Rachel to be her successor one day. That's when I got her back. She was barely a teenager, but, her childhood was gone from the minute she could understand what was happening.

"Rachel also didn't really know me that well. I was allowed to see her only a few times a year. Yes, she knew I am her mother, but, in her mind, I wasn't there enough.

"I had to make the painful choice to send her here and hope that she found find people who could help her.

"She first tried to get your Justice League to help. They refused, due to her demon side, but, she found her way here and made friends in the Titans, I see."

Edward nodded, "She's been a blessing to the team, that's for sure. But, she had done things that would have gotten anyone else kicked off the team. It obviously didn't matter. From what the others told me, she was the most restrained person and hates resorting to violence."

"The monks taught her that. They are…were a peaceful people and not trained for combat," Arella said and hung her head.

"I still can't believe Rachel and I are the last of the order."

Edward said, "Arella, the order of Azar has survived the massacre."

"How?" Arella said.

"Computer," Edward said to the air…or rather an audio input to the Tower's AI and database, "Please display all known locations for monasteries of the Azarathian Order."

"One moment please," the AI responded, "As you can see, there are at least 10 known locations."

A planetary map was displayed in at least 10 locations on the map. One of them, Edward realized, was where Raven had taken Melvin and her brothers for safekeeping. He smiled at that.

"It's not much," Edward said, "But, the order does survive."

Arella smiled softly, "Thank you for giving me hope."

Edward reached over and gave Arella's shoulder a gently squeeze.

"If I know Robin," Edward said wistfully, "He's already got a room here ready for you."

"How would I earn my keep, though?" Arella said.

"We talked about that recently," Edward replied, "There's a lot of times when we're on missions and need someone back at the Tower running the communications and summoning the right authorities. We also need, much to our chagrin, someone to help handle the media and even to contact the other Titans if needed."

"There are more?" Arella asked.

"Yeah, there's a Titans East," Edward replied, "As well as honorary members across the world.

"Also, while the Justice League is content to let the Titans handle things here in Jump City, they have sometimes asked for help…or we've had to get their help. Robin's mentor is one of their founding members and can be relied on to offer assistance. A mutual friend helped to finance the Tower and expenses."

"Do you help with the expenses as well?" Arella asked.

"Since I've been here, of course," Edward said, "That takes a load off the mutual friend. I don't like to flaunt this, however, I have a sizable amount of ready money and, if need be, I have a secret lair full of valuable stuff. I'm talking things that are fit for a museum, and, I have standing agreements with several to buy those items or I can submit them for auction and typically sell those for a sizable amount of money.

"Helping to fund the Titans doesn't put a dent in my current funds."

"That much money?" Arella asked.

Edward went to answer when a groan was heard from Raven's bed. Both Arella and Edward were there a moment later.

"Go get Cyborg, please," Edward requested.

Arella nodded and left.

"Come on, sweetie," Edward said to Raven, "You're almost there."

[Mirror,] Raven said via the link, [Need help.]

[Easy, honey,] Edward said, [I'll have Cyborg bring it.]

Cyborg and Arella came into the room and Edward said, "She's having trouble coming out of the trance."

"You need her mirror?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah, I have to go in, looks like," Edward said, "Arella, you're with me, if you want to see what I was talking about."

[Hurry,] Raven called out. She was sounding panicked.

[Don't force it, dear,] Edward advised as Cyborg left, [Relax. I'll be there shortly. Mind if your mom comes with me?]

[Not now,] Raven said, [Not ready for her.]

"Rain check, Arella," Edward said aloud, "Something's wrong. Not sure what it is, though."

[Hang on, dear,] he said, [Cyborg went to get the mirror.]

[Edward, this is Wisdom,] he heard, [Raven's stuck in some sort of tarlike substance. Anger and I tried to get her out, but, we can't get through it.]

[OK,] Edward replied, [Just help her the best you can. Cyborg's coming in with her mirror. One of you girls meet me in Brave's realm.]

[I'll meet you there,] Wisdom said.

Cyborg had returned with the mirror and handed it to Edward, covered up, of course.

[EDWARD! HURRY!] Brave yelled, [HE'S HERE!]

[Trigon?] Edward said and staggered back.

"Yo! You OK?" Cyborg asked, only to be greeted by Edward turning and Cyborg seeing a deadly look in Edward's eyes.

"Get the team and Arella out of here!" Edward said, "Trigon's trying to use Rae again! I thought that [censored] was DEAD!"

Cyborg grabbed Raven up and said, "Follow me, we set up a room before Trigon tried the first time. It's got protection wards designed to help her."

"Let's move, then!" Edward said, "Then, evacuate the Tower, just in case."

"Raven's my little sister!" Cyborg objected, "I'm not abandoning her!"

By then the rest of the team had realized something bad was going to happen and Starfire put it together.

"The Trigon is attacking sister Raven again!" she exclaimed, "We must help her."

Edward remembered his promise to Raven to let the team help.

"One must stay back to monitor Raven, then," he said, "Where we must go is a dark place. Beast Boy and Cyborg have been there before. Rob, Star, Terra, this is not going to be easy. It's Rae's mind we venture into. I'll take the heat should she get upset."

"I'll stay," Arella said.

"There's emergency medical equipment near the room and it's voice guided, just follow the prompts," Cyborg said.

"All right," Arella replied.

They went into the "Trigon room" for lack of a better term. Raven started to thrash in Cyborg's arms.

Edward carefully grasped Raven's head.

[I know you're there, you sumbitch,] Edward said through the link, [Release my girl and depart to the pit from which you came.]

Trigon's voice growled back, [I won't be moved by the likes of you. I will have my vengeance!]

[Over our dead bodies!] Edward replied.

"It's time," he said to the others, "We strike to kill."

"Will we harm Raven?" Terra asked.

"We have to take that risk," Edward replied, eyes still glowing, but yellow now. He looked the geomancer in the eyes, "Be careful, Terra. The ground there is not strictly earth and I don't know if your powers will work as you'd expect."

Edward removed the wrapping and said, "Forgive me, my love."

He reached out his free hand and the team, starting with Robin, grasped it. When all were touching, Edward held the mirror up and merely said, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

The mirror, responding to Edward's voice, activated as the portal and the team was transported into Raven's mind.

* * *

><p><em>Dang! Trigon doesn't know when he's beat, does he?<em>

_Looks like at least one more battle chapter and *HOPEFULLY* a conclusion chapter. This was supposed to be it, but, the plot bunny...er, muse, wanted more mayhem with Trigon. Considering that he was the biggest foe the Titans had to deal with, it makes sense.  
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_The team will need every advantage they can get and without shredding Raven's mind. She's not going to be happy.  
><em>

_Oh...You notice the nice enhanced review button here, right? Please, take a moment to leave a comment...Good, bad or ugly.  
><em>

_Next chapter coming soon!  
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_PS: We might see Titans East pretty soon...At least Cyborg and Edward can understand Mas Y Menos...We might see Jericho soon as well. Edward knows sign language, so, can talk to him (or, if Edward's willing, let Jericho borrow his body to communicate verbally.)  
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_See you later :)  
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	10. Look out! Edward is ENRAGED!

**Chapter 10  
>[Nevermore]<strong>

The team arrived in Raven's mind a moment later and as they looked around Edward transformed to his mini-Dragon form.

"OK," Edward said, "Robin, with much respect, I would ask that you allow me to be lead. Where we will have to go could be quite dangerous."

Without hesitation, Robin nodded, "You got it, Edward. You wouldn't ask to take command of the team unless it were necessary."

"We're at the 'entrance' to Nevermore. This is what makes Raven who she is," Edward explained to the others.

"Edward's right," Cyborg said, "Beast Boy and I were here about two months after the team formed by accident. Man, Raven was furious until we had to help her with one of her emotions."

"Was that when sister Raven attacked the Doctor Light?" Starfire asked.

"It was," Beast Boy replied, "Rage had gotten loose and took on the appearance of Trigon, so, we'll have to be careful."

"Robin, Terra, Cyborg, since you're non-fliers, you're on my back. Beast Boy and Starfire, since you can fly, you can flank me," Edward said.

"Excuse me," Terra said, "You know I can fly!"

"Terra, my dear," Edward said, "Like I told you, I do not know if you can manipulate the ground here."

Terra raised a hand and a boulder came up with it.

"Fine," Edward said, "If/when you feel tired, hop aboard. But, the bus is leaving!"

Edward waited for Robin and Cyborg to get on his back, Beast Boy formed an eagle and Terra got on a boulder and started hovering with it.

Edward took to the air and flew over the "Go Away" ravens. As they flew, they entered Happy's realm and that got a smile out of Edward.

In fact, Happy joined up with the crew.

"Hi, Edward!" she said with a giggle and planted a kiss on his cheek. He blushed.

"Hi, Happy," Edward said, "You want to help with the mission."

"You bet!"

"Please, this is Raven?" Starfire said, "If so, why is she wearing pink?"

"Cause it's my favorite color," Happy said.

"This is one of Raven's emoticlones, actually," Edward explained, "This is Happy and she's one of the emotions we don't typically Raven showing…usually."

"Hey, Rae-Rae lets me have my fun more often!" Happy objected.

"We know," Cyborg replied, "Since Edward here showed up, we've seen Raven the happiest she's ever been."

"Hop on, Happy," Edward said, "I got plenty of room."

Edward felt her landing and they continued onwards.

A little bit later, they entered that area between realms, but, that passed into an area where it was dark and foreboding.

"This is Timid's area," Edward said, "Be gentle with her. It's the emotion of Raven that is, well, more easily frightened."

"You can say that again," Cyborg confirmed, "When we were here, BB and I didn't realize that there were all these emotions that looked like Raven. Timid kept apologizing for things and, well, we scared her badly later on."

"Edward!" Timid called from the ground, "HELP!"

"Hang on!" Edward said and went into a controlled dive before landing.

"I'm scared!" Timid said. Everyone got off Edward's back and he shapeshifted.

He held out his arms and Timid ran over. She almost tackled Edward in her hug and started crying.

He merely returned the hug, whispering calming words into her ear.

Beast Boy came over and put his arm around Timid as did Cyborg

"Hey, little one," Edward said, "Don't cry. We're all here this time. It'll be OK."

"Daddy's back," Timid said, trembling badly, "He hurt me!"

"We know," Edward said.

Timid cried harder and Edward's empathic sense kicked in.

He gently pushed Timid away, "Did he hit you?"

She nodded.

"This is the most fragile of Raven's emotions," Edward said with barely controlled rage.

Timid looked at Starfire, who looked ticked as well, but, she said, "Come here to sister Starfire."

Timid ran to Starfire and she was picked up in the gentlest hug Edward had even seen Starfire give anyone!

Timid just cried some more as Starfire started humming a strange tune. Timid calmed down after a bit and Starfire said, "The Trigon will pay for hurting sister Raven's emotions."

"You pr'mise?" Timid asked.

"I swear on the throne of Tamaran," Starfire said seriously.

"That means, little one," Edward said, "That she is giving you her royal promise. You're hugging a princess."

Timid smiled shyly at that and squirmed. Starfire let her down.

Timid said, "Thank you. It doesn't hurt as much."

"Can I see?" Edward asked.

Timid walked slowly to Edward, scared of his reaction.

"It's OK," he said, "I just want to see."

Timid lifted her left hand sleeve and there was an ugly looking bruise there.

"Not a word, Beast Boy," Terra warned him.

Beast Boy merely held his hands up, "I know this isn't a time for jokes, guys. Timid's my friend as well."

Edward didn't know if his healing abilities would work, but, he was going to try.

His hands started glowing blue-green and he said, "Would you let me heal that for you?"

Timid slowly reached her arm out and as Edward made contact, the power was released. Timid's bruised arm healed quickly.

"Trigon's got something coming," Edward said.

Timid shyly gave Edward a kiss on the cheek and said, "Thank you."

"You best take cover," Robin suggested.

"OK," Timid replied and scampered off.

"Thanks, Robin," Edward said and morphed back to Dragon. He was quite angry, but, for Timid's sake, he didn't let off the ground-shaking roar he wanted.

"Friend Edward?" Starfire said.

"I'm all right, Kori," he said, "This is the last vestige of Trigon. His sons are dead and his body is gone to dust. He defeat him here, in Nevermore…"

"He's gone forevermore?" Beast Boy quipped then said, "OUCH!" as Terra smacked him upside the head.

Despite Edward's burning anger, he had to laugh, "Thanks, Terra!"

"You're welcome," Terra said.

"Bad puns and head slaps on Rae's behalf aside, Garfield's right," Edward said as the non-fliers got back on board for the trip. Luckily, Raven's mind was not erecting the normal defenses, like the maze in Timid's domain.

That fact was not lost on Beast Boy or Cyborg, either.

"Yo, dog!" Cyborg said, "Where's Raven's defenses?"

"She knows I'm here," Edward explained as they took off, "The trust level with her now is instinctual, I think. That goes for the rest of you. Rae told me that it took a long for her to trust everyone on this team."

"What about me?" Terra asked, gliding on her boulder.

"You took the longest, my dear," Edward replied, "After the unpleasantness from before, well, she didn't want to trust you for a long time. But, while you were petrified, Rae had a change of heart about you. Forgive me, Terra, for saying this. Rae actually felt bad for you. I don't think it was pity…"

Terra's face darkened and Edward said, "Easy, Terra. We know you didn't want or need our pity. There's a difference. You have to realize that the team thought you had perished. Garfield was certain of it. From what the others told me, he took it the hardest."

At that, Terra knew the depths of her shame. Even before her betrayal of the team, she had actually developed feelings for the younger shapeshifter. That's why she removed him from the Tower. She expected the Slade-Bots to kill the rest of the team and despite the risk, wanted him to survive.

In her mind, even when Slade was making love to her, she wanted Beast Boy. She never told Slade that, though. At least not directly. She still had some mental issues to deal with and those would flare up at times.

Edward had assumed the role of an unofficial counselor to the team, pretty much right after Terra had been recovered. He was the most neutral and understanding member of the team. He didn't make notes or anything else like that. He didn't need to. Each member of the team knew that he wouldn't judge the team for mistakes.

Like the times when Robin blew it in a mission, Edward would simply wait for Robin to calm down and come over for a visit.

Terra, though, was special in her own way. There were still some remnants of the distrust that existed before. But, as Terra reflected on her gliding rock…in the depth of her former arch-rival's own mind, she realized that she had been an idiot.

Her control faltered then and Edward reached over with his long neck and stabilized her platform.

"Careful," he chastised, "You get lost in here and it might not be pretty. Even I am vulnerable here. That's why Arella has strict instructions to monitor Rae. She dies…"

"I get it," Terra said as she regained her concentration, "We all die."

Edward straightened his neck out and saw that they had entered Brave's area.

"Yo, Edward!" Brave said, joining the formation.

"Hi, Brave," Edward said with a smile, "Wanna join the fun?"

"Kicking some Trigon butt? You bet!" she exclaimed, "That coward attacked my little sister emotion. He's gonna pay!"

"I know," Edward said, "I just healed Timid's arm. I had wondered why she was crying so hard."

Brave sighed, "Then, we need to return the favor."

Happy said, "Rae-Rae would like that, very much."

"Hop aboard," Edward said, "No sense in you wasting energy."

Brave complied with the request. She held onto her sister emotion's waist as they moved on.

"Where would Trigon be?" Edward mused. He was puzzled. There was no damage to the landscape and, the last time he had to rescue Raven in Nevermore, Malchior had torn through everything.

"Trigon went to Raven's emotional center," Brave said, "Raven was about to emerge from the trance and Trigon had waited until then to trap her in something we've only seen once…Terra's mind."

"Huh?" Terra said.

Edward thought back for a moment and the Titans saw his head bobbing in recognition.

"Titans," he said, "Then Rae and I entered Terra's mind, we encountered a similar situation as here. Terra's mind had several emoticlones as well. But, what Brave is referring to is that when Rae and I were close to Terra's primary self, we fought/swam through a substance that at first wasn't that hard to get through.

"But, as we continued, it got harder and harder to get through and I had to assume more of a swimming motion to plow through."

"Hold up!" Robin said, "If this is something we have to plow through, how do we breathe?"

"You'll be fine, Robbie," Happy said, "Y'all don't have to worry about breathing in here."

"She's right, Robin," Beast Boy said.

"Even in Terra's mind, Rae and I had no problems," Edward confirmed.

The landscape changed just then. The "sky" turned a blood red and lightning flashed.

"Get ready, Titans," Edward warned, "He knows we're here and his evil is spreading. Terra, Starfire and Beast Boy might want to hop aboard and save your energy as well."

They did and Edward continued on.

"This is not going to be pretty," he said, "If Trigon isn't stopped here and now, he could completely possess Raven and gain access to Earth once more. But, he's still vulnerable to being hurt. We will be fighting to kill, Titans. Trigon is not human and, that makes a difference. Remember to play to your strengths and cover each one's weaknesses. I haven't picked anything up from the telepathic link and that means that it's blocked."

A deep voice rumbled, "And it will stay blocked forever. You murdered my sons and for that, I will be avenged. You killed my physical body, but, you overlooked my daughter. My genes still run through her blood even though she had been cleansed of me. In fact, I have already claimed her."

_NO!_ Edward screamed in his mind.

[RAVEN!] Edward yelled through the link.

[Get lost!] she snarled, [I never knew you! Get out of my mind!]

There was a massive blast of lightning that Edward dodged.

[Raven, come on, sweetheart. It's me, Edward,] he pleaded.

[Come on, Rae-Rae!] Happy called out, [Please, let us help you.]

[BAH! You're weak, Happy!] Raven growled.

Edward didn't realize it, but, the others were listening as well.

"Come on, Raven!" Beast Boy said, "Don't shut out your friends."

"The shapeshifter hears our thoughts?" Raven called out.

"We all do, sister Raven!" Starfire said, "We love you."

"Love?" Raven said, "I never felt love."

"Rae," Edward said, "Think, sweetheart! You and I fell in love the first day we saw each other. You've shown that you can love."

"The only one who loved me was Father!" Raven yelled.

"Raven," Robin said, "You father only loved you because you were his portal, nothing more! Soon as he was done with you, he turned you into a child of 7 years old. He cast you into HELL!"

"Raven," Cyborg said, "Robin fought for you! He brought you back to us. You defeated Trigon!"

"You saved me from being a statue!" Terra cried, "Even though I didn't deserve it."

The sky roared, "YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY DAUGHTER!"

"Trigon," Edward roared right back, "I WILL TAKE MY LOVE BACK! YOU WILL BE BANISHED TO EVERLASTING TORMENT!"

The sky rumbled as a blast of Trigon's eye beams lashed out, only to be intercepted by boulders Terra raised up.

"Look!" Starfire said.

"I see them, Kori," Edward said. There were four red eyes in the sky.

"Are they Raven's or Trigon's?" Robin asked.

"From what I know, Raven didn't have eye beams," Edward said.

After a moment, he said, "Time to fight. Titans, GO!"

Edward fired off a lightning blast, then. Starfire launched starbolts and her own eye beams, Cyborg fired off his sonic cannon. Terra heaved boulders as well. Beast Boy formed his own dragon, based on Edward's form and also grabbed boulders and threw them at Trigon.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," Happy and Brave said at the same time and launched their own attacks. Happy was pink, of course, and Brave's attack was purple..

Robin heaved several explosive devices as well.

The combined attacks hit Trigon at the same time, pummeling him.

"The sting of a gnat," he said.

Edward said, "Try this."

His spinal ridges went bright white…the brightest the Titans had ever seen in fact. A moment later, they saw the air in front of Edward's face start glowing as the power levels built up to maximum capacity.

The air started to crackle all around Edward. Starfire's hair stood on end, as did the emoticlones and Terra.

Edward's jaw dropped and with a tremendous roar of thunder, a massive blast of lightning emerged.

Had that been unleashed in the real world, the damage would have been incredible as Edward basically drained his lightning abilities in one huge blast.

It was a solid stream of electricity with crackling side streams surrounding it.

The beam hit Trigon before he could react. He roared in agony.

The effects of the blast made Trigon visible as the raw power attacked every nerve ending.

Any other living being would have fallen over, charred past recognition. As the beam faded, Edward and the Titans were covered in Raven's dark energy.

"Raven!" Edward said, "Stop this. I do not wish to hurt you!"

"Oh, but, I want to hurt YOU!" she said angrily, "You drained your reserves. You can't fire your lightning for a while."

Edward stifled a sob, "Then, the Rachel I knew is gone!"

The rage he had held back exploded then. His eyes glowed a deadly red and had the Titans been able to see his scales, they would have retreated.

"Oh, crap!" Cyborg said.

Edward roared out his rage and he pushed against the power that was restraining him. The Titans were stunned to see cracks forming in her power and after a few long moments, he was freed from the attack, black shards going everywhere.

He screamed and the Titans all knew Edward had been pushed and shoved past his breaking point. They got off, in a hurry. The ones that could fly grabbed those that couldn't and they got to a safe distance.

"Raven!" Robin called out, "If there's any vestige of our friend in there, RUN! Edward's passed all rational thought!"

The roar that Edward loosed was one of unbridled rage…and agony that only a broken heart could create.

Starfire wept into Robin's shoulder as Edward's pain radiated outward.

Raven shuddered, "NO! I can't do this. I can't hurt him. I WON'T!"

"KILL HIM!" Trigon demanded.

"NO, TRIGON! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Raven screamed.

Cyborg said, "Raven's fighting back! Titans, we gotta help. Fire everything at Trigon again."

The glow in Edward's eyes was deadly as he snarled, "You took my love, you took my LIFE! NOW I END YOURS!"

He was out of electricity, but, he still had his other weapons. In his rage, Edward was able to grab Trigon and ignoring the heat, ignoring the blistering pain, knocked Trigon down and viciously attacked Trigon.

Trigon tried putting up a fight, he really did…But, Edward was a wounded creature and anyone will tell you that when an animal is wounded, that's when they are most dangerous.

The last aspect of Trigon felt Edward's hot draconic breath in his face a moment before Edward clamped his jaws into Trigon's neck and with a utterly savage snarl…ripped Trigon's throat out! He spat out the pieces of, well, everything.

This time, there would be no return for Trigon. His physical body had already been destroyed. Now, his last remaining bit of soul vanished.

Edward was still in full bloodlust as the evil that was Trigon faded away.

"OK," Beast Boy said, "Who gets to calm him down?"

"I will," Raven said, walking up to them in her White Raven form.

"Welcome back," Robin said.

"You're sweet," Raven said, "But, if we don't get him calmed down before you all leave my mind, he could still lash out. In this state…He's extremely dangerous. Please, don't kick him out of the Titans, though."

"Perish the thought, Raven," Robin said, "He will always be a Titan unless he chooses not to be."

Raven smiled before walking over to Edward.

Edward saw Raven approaching and snarled, "Do not come any closer. I do not know if you are Raven or not."

"My favorite color is blue, you're my best friend who I love very much," Raven said.

Edward snarled, "Starfire told me something earlier, something that only she knew before."

Raven levitated up to Edward's ear and said softly, "I told Starfire that I want to marry you. I love you, Edward!"

The angry glow in Edward's eyes started to fade then. A few moments later, he morphed back to human and collapsed.

The sounds of sobbing were heard as the Titans gathered around. Edward was safe to be around again.

"Let me through!" another voice called out. This was a lavender cloaked emoticlone.

She grabbed Edward and held him tight.

"Mom told me that I'd have to break through to you," she said."

"Aww!" Happy said with a giggle, "Cut it out, Love."

"I can't help it he feels lost," Love said, "He needs me."

"Guys, I have to ask you to get out of my mind," Raven said, "Edward's been tortured badly, I think. But, thank you for helping."

Terra went over to Edward and hugged him. After kissing him on the cheek she said, "I don't think Gar would mind if I told you that I love you as well."

Beast Boy said, "Dude, she's totally right. We all love you, Edward."

"You'll be OK, Edward," Robin said, "As of now, you're on a leave of absence for as long as you need."

"Throwing me off the team?" Edward asked, not understanding.

"Hell, no!" Robin exclaimed, "You're family and family sticks together. Only you can throw yourself off the Titans, got it?"

Edward nodded.

Raven pointed and said, "The exit is that way."

"Come on, Titans," Robin said, "They need time to heal."

**[Raven's protection room]**

Arella had been monitoring Raven for the past 8 hours when there was a series of seizures racking Raven's lithe form. Those stopped on their own and another hour later, her mirror glowed white as most of the Titans returned.

"It's over," Robin said.

"What do you mean?" Arella said.

"Edward went ballistic," Cyborg said, "Nah, he went 100 megaton nuclear. We did find Trigon in there and he corrupted Raven. Edward thought she had quit loving him and when she attacked him, we saw how deadly he is when he gives into his nature."

Beast Boy shivered, "He tore Trigon's throat out." Arella paled visibly hearing that.

"Is she?" Arella said.

"Raven's back to normal. But, Edward's going to need time," Robin said.

Raven finally opened her eyes and sat up with a groan.

Arella gently embraced Raven, who embraced back and started crying.

"Edward's in a lot of pain, right now," she said a moment later, getting hold of her emotions before things started exploding.

A moment later, the mirror glowed once more to reveal Edward standing there.

Starfire flew over and gave him a hug that she knew he could tolerate.

"Are you all right, friend Edward?" she asked, concerned.

"No," Edward said, "It will be a long time before I'm all right."

"Let him be, guys," Robin said as Edward turned and left the room, Raven in tow.

Edward slowly walked to his room when Raven said, "No, honey." She led him to her room, pulled him in and when the door closed said, "My turn to be supportive."

She pulled his head down and kissed him passionately. Her empathic sense told her to heal his emotional pain.

"One of the things an empath can do, dear," she explained, "is heal someone's emotional state as well."

"Thank you, no," Edward said, "I love you for offering that. But, we've both been through the wringer. You're not even recovered yet and your well-being comes first, Rachel."

He realized that she still loved him and he still loved her. But, it would take a lot of time for the emotional wounds to heal…

**[A week later]**

_Raven writes…_

_Trigon is gone forever. Edward has fought the hardest battle ever and is still fighting it. Instead of his filtering out my nightmares, I'm having to block his from reaching me._

_I know what his biggest fear is now. It's losing those he loves. He's been sullen this last week and while we've been meditating together, he's barely holding up._

_His lightning breath still isn't fully back for some reason. I think that while in my mind, the psychological effects have carried over to reality. I don't remember much after Trigon invaded. But, from what the team told me, Edward's full rage was enough to overcome my powers._

_The team won't tell Edward to his face, but, they are now deadly frightened of him, yet, glad that he's on our side. It doesn't take an empath to see that. _

_Starfire made him that pudding of sadness and his mood actually did improve eating it. He's the only one that can take Starfire's cooking without running for the restroom, which is saying a lot as Cyborg can eat pretty much anything, except her cooking. She's still puzzling why he couldn't stomach the Tamaranian cooking._

_Robin is concerned. He doesn't want to ask Edward to leave the team and, so far, he's kept the others away when he's seen Edward's moodiness._

_Robin's offered Mother a permanent place here at the Tower. It's not Azarath, but, Mother knows she has nowhere else to go right now. She's accepted._

_Beast Boy is the one that really understands, I hate to say. Being a shapeshifter like Edward gives him that perspective that we Titans lack. Beast Boy even took Edward to "his spot" under the Tower to help him relax and meditate on his own._

_I guess being nearly 3,000 years old will take a toll on even his mind. I just pray that he'll bounce back._

_The only thing that is keeping Edward's head on straight is that Starfire told him that I would accept a marriage proposal. I should be angry at her for telling him that little piece of information, but, it came in so handy calming him down._

_Nevermore was slightly damaged, thank Azar for small favors._

_Terra's gone out of her way to be friendly, but, when asked why, she says, "I have a new perception of you, that's all. It's all good!"_

_*sigh*_

The End…For now.

* * *

><p><em>Hi, everyone!<em>

_Yep, this is the end of the story. Normally, I'd write a conclusion chapter, but, I had to make an exception for several reasons.  
><em>

_The main one is that this will be the last story for a short while. I will be losing phone access any day now and unless my roomie wants to get high speed service here, that will end the net for a bit.  
><em>

_The second one is that poor Edward's been put through the wringer. I was in tears writing parts of this story because Edward is, well, a part of me. I don't like putting him or me through that. My earliest stories were "Mary Sue" type where everything was A-OK or could be set right very quickly. But, that's NOT a good story after all.  
><em>

_I'm working my way through the comic book version of the Teen Titans and...Holy crap! Talk about INTENSE! Even though I have an idea what happens to some of the characters (like Tara Markov killing herself) it still gets to me.  
><em>

_But, I'm doing that for several reasons which will be explained/made obvious ASAP. We're going to see more honorary members coming into play as hinted before, maybe a few borrowed plotlines (with due credit, of course!) and a few other things.  
><em>

_Standard request for reviews here!  
><em>


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